Resident DEvil 2
by RisingPhoenix7
Summary: Thrown into Raccoon City in the midst of a full-scale zombie outbreak, can our heroes survive the horrors taking residence in this evil place as well?
1. Prologue: The Doomed City

**Resident DEvil 2**

(I'll just resign myself to bad titles and slink off to the corner)

Disclaimer: Capcom owns not only Resident Evil and all its characters, but also owns Devil May Cry and all its characters. I say this not because there's any reason to think I own them, but to let you all know who to buy the video games from.

Summary: After their ordeal in the Spencer Mansion, it seems that our Devil Hunters have been sent back to the Resident Evil universe at a later time. Thrown into Raccoon City in the midst of a full-scale zombie outbreak, can they survive the horrors taking residence in this evil place as well?

Rating: T, unless the violence gets a little _too_ squishy.

Spoilers from here on for Bleach May Cry and the original Resident DEvil (naturally), so read on at your own risk.

The Story So Far…: Dante, Lady, Nero and Kyrie were all sent to the Bleach universe against their will by Mar, where they met Ichigo and Rukia. Deciding to make the most of their situations, they helped to clean up Hollows. When Rukia was forced to return to Soul Society, they joined Ichigo and his friends in a rescue attempt on the strange afterlife. They succeeded, but Mar nevertheless managed to advance his plans in the meantime.

Upon leaving, they were taken to the Spencer Mansion, and shortly met up with S.T.A.R.S. officers Jill Valentine and Barry Burton. Agreeing to aid them, the Devil Hunters assisted in exploring the mansion, searching for missing S.T.A.R.S. members, and repelling the disgusting monsters within. Unfortunately, they were largely unable to rescue many S.T.A.R.S. members, due to most of them having been killed before their arrival. However, they managed to protect nearly all the surviving S.T.A.R.S. officers and unintentionally save the life of Enrico Marini. This last action, to Dante's glee, visibly surprises Mar.

Making their way further through the bowels of the mansion, they discover a secret underground lab built by the Umbrella Corporation. To their shock, the S.T.A.R.S. leader, Albert Wesker, is revealed to be a traitor. In the process of confronting him, the Tyrant-002 is released, Wesker is seemingly killed, and Dante's superhuman regeneration and durability is revealed to Chris Redfield and Rebecca Chambers. After defeating the Tyrant, they activate the mansion's self-destruct mechanism to prevent the monsters from infecting others, and race to the roof for extraction. Unfortunately, the Tyrant is far from dead, and assaults them before they can escape. Revealing his demonic side to the rest of the S.T.A.R.S. members present, Dante slaughters the Tyrant bio-weapon with Pandora. They are rescued by Brad Vickers, and in the middle of their flight, Mar appears once again. They argue with him a bit about his motives, and he mouths a single word to Dante as a hint. After that, he forms portals under all of the Devil Hunters, transporting them away with a grin.

Author's Intro: A sequel for my sequel, eh? *Shrug* What can I say? Appropriate for a Capcom game, no?...Okay, but seriously, they do make some addicting games, and RE2 is no exception. How could I help myself?

Prologue: The Doomed City

"Here. I don't know about you, but I vote we get the ever-loving _hell_ out of here."

She took the man's arm. "No arguments here!" They took off at a run, fleeing from the shambling creatures.

"My Jeep should be around-" He stopped abruptly as he noticed those things surrounding it. "Dammit! Can't go back that way!"

She spotted her bike, which the two of them were separated from by a wall of zombies. "Can't get to my bike, either!" _I sure hope you've got another plan, pretty boy._

Almost as if answering her thoughts, he pointed to a cop car that hadn't been swarmed yet. "Over there! Come on!"

They piled into the cruiser in a hurry, the undead beginning to close in behind them. "Buckle up, miss!"

"Okay," she responded. Escaping this madness only to die in an auto accident would sort of defeat the whole purpose.

With that, the car sped off, the shuffling undead falling far behind.

"Just what the hell's going on here?! I wasn't in town ten minutes and the whole place went insane!" she declared.

He, meanwhile, was fiddling with the cruiser's radio. "Great, it's out. Guess that means no cheery showtunes," he snorted.

"You... _are_ a cop, right?" she asked warily, eyeing his uniform. The guy looked pretty green for it; not at all like her brother. Then again, perhaps that was an unfair comparison.

He nodded. "Yep. First day on the job. Just my luck, huh?" He chuckled nervously. "Guess that part's pretty obvious. My hands won't stop shaking. Got a wicked headache, too." That may or may not have been the hangover from last night, but he held off from mentioning that; no need to worry her any more than he had to.

"Well, they don't exactly teach you how to handle a situation like this at the precinct, do they?" she asked rhetorically.

"I guess not." Weird; he felt strangely better. "Anyway, I'm glad you're okay. The name's Leon Kennedy; nice to meet you."

She smiled. "I'm Claire Redfield. Nice to meet you, Leon."


	2. 1: Raccoon City

_Joined by chance, they were parted by an inescapable destiny. After the dawn is just the start of another horrible nightmare…_

 _BOOOM!_

Lady cringed at the massive explosion. _What the hell?! Wait...Dante!_

She was able to make out a single moving figure near the flames. "Leon!" it yelled.

 _A living woman? I hope she knows how to shoot._

"Okay!" the figure yelled, and then turned towards her. Lady was able to register that she was wearing a red jacket and was young, likely college-age, before the woman drew a gun on her.

"Take it easy!" Lady yelled. "I'm living!"

"No, behind you!"

Lady spun, drawing her own pistol and firing off three shots in rapid succession. The first two went straight through the heads of the intended zombies, but the last only hit it in the chest, knocking it down. Looking past them, Lady noticed more shuffling undead lurching towards her.

She turned to the young woman, motioning her closer. "C'mon, run!" The two took off at high speed, Lady providing supporting fire until the girl caught up with her. With that, the two hurried through the streets, weaving in and out of wrecked cars to dodge the walking dead.

They cut through an alleyway, only to find additional zombies. With the wall of undead behind them, they couldn't turn back, either.

"Up there, at the end of the alleyway! A gun store!" the girl yelled.

Lady caught herself praying to Sparda that the door would be unlocked. "Hurry!" As the ranks of the undead began to close in on them, Lady snapped off shots as quickly as possible. _No time for precision; just need to get past them!_

Upon reaching the door, she grabbed the handle and yanked. To her immense relief, it swung open. The two ladies piled in, gasping ragged breaths.

 _Chk-CHK!_

...At which point, for the second time in ten minutes, Lady found a gun being pointed at her.

* * *

The huge explosion fazed him so little it was almost comforting.

"Claire!" "Leon!"

That part, however, was a different story.

"I'm okay. Head to the station! I'll meet you there!" "Okay!"

His eyes focused on the figure standing amidst the flames. A person, a male from the sound of it. The forms rising around him, however, were growling in low voices he was used to. _More zombies, huh?_

The man spun around, firing two shots at the zombies on either side. Knocking them down, he trained his pistol on Dante.

The Devil Hunter was resting Ebony on his shoulder and held Ivory casually at his side. "Yo."

Leon raised an eyebrow, but lowered his gun and ran away from the flames. "C'mon, we're headed to the police station. No time to waste!"

* * *

"Freeze!" the man yelled.

The girl held up her hands, but didn't dare let go of her pistol. "Don't shoot!...*pant*...We're living!"

The man narrowed his eyes at Lady, hands tightening on the gun. "What are you doing here?"

"Same as...*pant*...you!" Lady gasped out. "Staying...*pant*...alive!"

The man stared at them for a moment, but nodded and lowered his crossbow. "Phew..." He walked over to them.

"What's going on here?" Lady demanded, her breath and demeanor regained.

"Hang on...could have sworn I locked this..." The man pulled the deadbolt on the door. He shrugged. "I ain't got no clue, darlin's. Truth be told, my memory's a mite fuzzy." Noticing Lady's worried stare, he smiled and shook his head. "Not like that, I promise; if I was turnin' into one of those freaks, I'd ask you to put me down personally."

"And the wound?" she asked, looking at his bandaged arm.

"Cut it on a countertop," he said, pointing to a corner near the register. "Was running over here to the door to lock it and wasn't watching where I was going."

Claire frowned. _But it was unlocked..._ "Well, whatever the case, we need to get to the police station. I'm meeting someone there, and it'll be a lot safer."

He chuckled. "Don't you worry, sweetie. I've got enough ammo to hold us out here for a while."

"And how about guns themselves? Or food?"

He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Well...I handed out most of my guns to the other survivors I sent to the police station. And I'm just about through all of my rations."

Lady nodded. "The police station it is, then." She looked at the girl. "Okay, so you..." She paused. "I'm sorry, I haven't even asked you your name yet."

The girl smiled. "Well, we had other priorities at the time. I'm Claire. Claire Redfield."

"Redfield?" she asked, surprised. "You...wouldn't happen to be related to Officer Chris Redfield, would you?"

Claire's eyes went wide. "You know Chris?! Have you seen him? Is he okay?" she asked rapidly.

"Easy, easy..." she said, holding her hands up. "I'll tell you everything I know, but only after we get to the police station. This place is..." She gave a pointed look at the glass windows of the storefront. "...less than ideal."

She nodded. "Okay."

"Good. Claire, you and I are going to go through this place for ammo. Both of our guns use 9 millimeter rounds, so focus on those and nothing else." She looked at the man. "As for you..."

"Robert Kendo," he supplied, holding out his left hand. "Call me Kendo."

She took it, giving a quick shake. "Kendo, you keep the front of the store covered. Is there a back way out of here?"

"Of course. Just over there," he said, pointing behind another counter.

She didn't dare question her good fortune while they were on such a roll. "Once we get all the rounds we can carry, we leave as fast as we can. Kendo, you'll be leading us to the police department."

He nodded, and the two women got to work. Unfortunately, they only managed to find two boxes of 9mm shells.

"Damn, I was hoping for more..." Lady grumbled. Split between her and Claire, that only amounted for about two or three clips of ammo. _Wonderful_ she thought as she began loading rounds into one of her pistols.

"Uh...lady?" Kendo asked her.

She turned around. Zombies had pushed the van blocking the glass windows, and now some of them were starting to claw at them, trying to get at the humans inside.

"Claire, go cover the rear door. Kendo, if they come through, fire once and then fall back. I'll collect the ammo; when I'm done, I'll follow you."

Claire obeyed, and just as Lady had finished loading the clip, the entire front windows were covered in the undead.

"Lady, hurry up!" Kendo yelled.

She shoved the rest of the bullets into one of her pockets and dashed over to the box Claire had found. "Got it. Let's go!"

As the three retreated, the windows finally gave way under the pressure of all the bodies pressing against it. They shattered, with zombies falling into the gun shop. Just as a few began to get up, Kendo fired as instructed, though of the three arrows that launched, only one put down its target. The other two stuck in a zombie that raised its hands to grab Kendo. He ducked, the zombie stumbling backward as Lady put two rounds into it.

"Let's go!" Claire yelled, throwing the door open and sweeping the alleyway beyond. The other two followed at full speed, Kendo slamming the door behind them.

* * *

"Nice sandwich shops. These any good?"

"They were," Leon panted as he ran to keep up with the man in red. "But they've…gone downhill ever since…the owners…well…"

"Started snackin' on brains? Ah, figures." He kept firing in front of them, clearing a path through the street. "Well, I suppose it'd be best to introduce myself to a client. Name's Dante. I guess you could call me something of a...'specialized exterminator'."

" 'Client'? Oh, whatever. I'm Leon Kennedy, with the Raccoon City Police Department."

Dante's eyes glanced briefly at the vest Leon was wearing; it had the letters "R.P.D." emblazoned in bold capital letters. He decided to let it slide. "Oh, sweet, a motorcycle!"

Leon couldn't help but stare in wonder at his newfound partner. He seemed a bit…strange. "I like bikes as much as the next guy, but that one's out of commission. And no time to fix it up; but on the other hand…" He raced towards it, leaping over and throwing open a gate door just past it. "Come on, hurry!" Dante leapt through the door, slamming it behind them. He and Leon turned around.

…If Dante didn't know better, he thought they'd just stumbled onto a third of the entire precinct. He sighed, drawing his trusty sword. "Well, here we go!"

Claire, Lady, and Kendo, in the meantime, had been traveling through the alleyway behind the weapons shop. They started to walk past a large, chain link fence with a small door. Beyond it was a small basketball court…and three zombies that noticed them.

"Keep going; my truck's just ahead. We can grab ammo!" Kendo insisted. They did, and Lady swiped a box each of 9mm bullets and shotgun shells. Just as she did, however, there was a crash, and the zombies tumbled out of the gate they'd passed.

Lady held a hand out, detaching her shotgun with the other hand. "Stand back; I've got this." She fed two of the new shells into her weapon, and walked closer to the undead. Just as they got to their feet, she pointed the barrel up and fired. The shot took off both their heads at once; what was left of them coating the far wall. She fed in another two shells and strode in past the fence, doing the same trick with the other zombie they'd seen and one they hadn't. With that, their path was clear.

She looked at the graffiti around the court as her allies moved to rejoin her. _'Blood On The Dance Floor'… 'Love Less Than Rich'…where is something relevant to the current- oh. 'This too shall pass'._ She sighed. _Not any time soon, it won't. 'Raccoon Is Dead'._ Despite herself, a smile came to her face. _Should I feel bad for wanting to laugh at that? And this last one says… 'Terrible Demons Have Come From Hell'._ The smile left immediately. _I can only hope they haven't this time…but we're never that lucky._ With the other two having caught up, they went through the gate on the other side of the court.

They found themselves in an even more narrow alleyway; they had to go single file for a few feet, and even then space wasn't very forgiving. Still, they made it through, and began climbing up a set of metal steps leading up to a large billboard.

"How on earth did this sort of design get approval?" Lady wondered aloud.

"I dunno. How did you get your own bazooka?" Kendo countered.

A small grin crossed her face. "What if I said skill?"

He opened his mouth, seemed to reconsider, and then muttered "Well…I suppose I'd ask about permits next…"

"There _may_ be time to discuss later. But…" They reached the top, circled around the billboard, and began climbing down again. "Other things on the list first."

Claire's attention, much like Lady's before, was drawn to the graffiti around them. Some were encouraging, like _Keep Fighting_ , _Don't Lose Hope_ and _We Can Survive This_. Some were despairing, such as _Judgment Day Is Here_ , _We Are Damned All Of Us_ , and a picture of a bullet with the words _Ticket to Heaven_ stamped on it. But the one that really caught her eye was one that didn't seem to belong. It wasn't especially large, or written in thick paint. Tucked away in a corner, almost like an afterthought, scribbled in a very deliberate fashion, were the words _Saint Elmo's Light Rekindles_. Curiously, where the other graffiti was written in bright reds, yellows, or greens, this was painted in a shade of dark bl

"Claire? What is it?"

Kendo's voice brought her back to reality, and the gravity of the situation they were in. "Sorry, I…nevermind. Let's keep going." She ran to the other two, putting the strange phrase out of her mind completely as they descended the rest of the stairs.

This time, there was a different obstacle than a fence separating them from enemies. It was a…dumpster. Hmm. Still, they made good use of it as cover; it seemed wedged in place, resulting in the zombies beyond walking into their waiting line of fire.

 _There may be a lot, but at least they're not very bright_ Lady thought with relief. They hopped over and made their way to the end of the alley. _Well, if we can keep narrow corridors like this all the way to the police station, we'll be set._

Naturally, when she opened the metal door at the end, there was a wide street beyond, packed with cars and trucks. Zombies on every side turned to stare at them; four looked up from a corpse they were feeding on as if in a daze.

Claire grabbed the two. "That bus crashed into the barricade! It's our only chance!" They sprinted forward, hoping they could open the doors and squeeze through before the dozens of brain-eaters could catch them. They made it to the doors, Lady and Kendo each grabbing a door and forcing them open while Claire kept them covered. With the doors open, Kendo, Lady, and then Claire all dashed in, slamming the doors behind them.

 _Dammit…_ Lady's mind growled. _Just when we get out of one nightmare, we go directly…_


	3. 2: To Another Nightmare

_At the same time, at the same place. All must fight through this nightmare to know the true end._

Lady's group, having taken temporary refuge in the crashed bus, stopped to catch their breath.

The two zombies on board seemed to have other ideas, however.

"Covering! You two search!" Claire called. She fired her pistol, and as instructed, the other two swept the area they could see for useful items. But all they found was a half-full box of 9mm rounds.

"Better than nothing," Kendo remarked.

The sounds of firing stopped, and Lady sighed in relief. She was beginning to feel a dull ache. "Let's take about ten seconds, okay? Make sure we got everything." The other two shrugged, but searched anyway. Despite this, they uncovered nothing new. "Sorry, but it was worth a try." She took a breath, knowing the next part was going to be terrible. "Everyone ready?"

"Ready."

"Ready."

She nodded to Claire, who moved up to the front of the bus. Giving the handle a push, the doors swung open, letting them out into the street beyond…

* * *

Leon shot an advancing zombie twice, knocking it down. He put a third bullet in its head, and turned to look at Dante's progress.

 _He's less a person, and more of a lawnmower._

Judging from the results, this didn't seem too far off. The remains of about ten former zombie policemen were strewn everywhere, and with another slash of that sword (seriously, what was he even doing with one of those?!), the eleventh fell in two, and there were no more. Dante shrugged, replacing the sword on his back and walking into the small shack to one side. Looking around, he found a small keyring (with only one key) hanging on a hook. He grabbed it, absently twirling it on his finger. "Okay, got it."

"Got what?" Leon asked. "Do you even know what that key does yet?"

He strode over to the cabin on the opposite side. "This would be my guess." He turned it in the lock, and lo and behold, it opened. "Well, if you're gonna be paying for this job, I should probably give you a few pointers."

"…Paying?" he asked, lost.

Dante ignored this last comment. "Lesson one, and you could call this the _key_ lesson: always carry at least one weapon, and pick up any key, ammo, or funny looking object you find. Because you'll need every one of them."

Leon quirked his head. "What, you get into these situations so often you have a list of rules?"

"You have no idea…"

Before he could press further, the gate they'd entered through began to rattle from the weight of newly-arrived zombies. "I guess learning tips couldn't hurt," he muttered as he walked through the door Dante held open for him. _Not that I ever plan on getting into another disaster like this._

* * *

 _It is obscene how much of that fire truck is covered in flames_ Lady mused as they dashed through the street. With undead on every side and little to no room to maneuver, they didn't dare stop to fight. _Just a little further…come on!_

A gate! And she could make out the blue roof of what looked like…

"It's the station!" Kendo announced. "Move those pretty legs!" They all raced to the gate, flinging it open and piling through. Lady spun around, flipping the latch as the groaning, walking dead tried to follow them.

"That won't hold them forever," Claire warned.

"Doesn't have to," Lady countered, "if we keep moving." They moved to the pathway that led to the station, but Lady found her attention drawn to the stairs leading under it. "Let's go down first. We can check for important supplies."

Kendo opened his mouth as if to argue, but the locked gate began to rattle as the zombies pushed on it. "Well, no sense standin' here!" He and Claire followed Lady as she traveled down into the lower walkway.

"Hmm…" Much to her frustration, the patterns of brick and stone were beginning to remind her too much of the _last_ zombie situation they'd been in. "I don't see anything yet, but-" She broke off, hearing the telltale signs of an undead lurking. She drew her pistol and leveled it at the head of the zombie some distance away.

…But she didn't pull the trigger.

She gasped in surprise. "What?! It can't be!"


	4. 3: Crash!

They passed through the shack with absolutely nothing interesting to report (other than a half-full box of bullets for Leon), and came out the other side. As they did, though, something interesting DID happen.

They perked their heads up at the same time, a familiar noise coming to their ears. Both of them heard it; the distant sound of helicopter blades. They scanned the skies with hope.

"Brad?" Dante wondered aloud.

The chopper approached overhead, heading in their direction. "Hey! There's people here!" Leon called out, waving his hands.

The chopper slowed, hovering over the roof of the police station. The pilot's voice was broadcast over loudspeaker. "I can't set 'er down; it's too much risk. I'll throw you a rope ladder!"

"But a rope ladder wouldn't reach here…" Leon said, confused.

Dante's eyes widened. "There's someone on the roof!" Seconds after he said that, gunfire rang out. _I don't care what that guy sent us here to do, I'm getting everyone out that I can!_ "Stand back, Leon!"

There was no time to explain; he began sprinting towards the wall. Leon looked up; the gunfire seemed to be hitting the helicopter now. "Damn it!" He looked back to where Dante had been, but found nothing. He moved his gaze upward, and then his jaw dropped; the white-haired man was running _**up**_ the wall. Even as he struggled to comprehend this, he saw the helicopter lose altitude. It was going to crash! "Dante!" he yelled.

Just as the man in red reached the roof, the helicopter impacted. There was a massive explosion, and he could see flames flickering on the roof. "Oh no…Dante!" He set his gaze back to ground level, racing around the building and finding a set of stairs. There were two zombies blocking the way, though; one in a policeman's uniform and an undead woman in a green tank top. He moved on instinct; he pulled out his pistol with his right hand and his knife with his left.

In one motion, he fired at the man's head and threw the knife at the woman. By some stroke of luck, the shot hit the undead man right in the eye, taking him out instantly; unfortunately, though, the knife only hit the woman in the chest. She raised her arms, gurgling. He didn't have time to change course; he rolled under the woman's reach, racing up the stairs behind her and hoping beyond hope that he wasn't too late.

The scene on the roof wasn't pretty; there were three bodies crushed under the helicopter, and the area immediately around the cockpit was covered in flames. From what he could tell, none of the bodies were Dante. But then…where was he? He looked around the roof, but found nothing. Lost, he looked up in confusion, and then he found Dante.

It seemed that in the impact, part of the rotor had broken off and embedded into the chain link fence on one section of the roof. Pinned in place on the fence, like an insect on display, was the man in red, his head slumped, his sword lying feet away next to a roof access door.

Leon clenched his fists. _No…why did you have to…_ He lowered his head. "I wish I could've known you better. I'll get them for you." He took one more look at the hanging body; the flames had spread across now, covering the area around the fence. He could only see what was left of the man as a dark shadow in the fire. "Goodbye."

"Is that…the best you've got?" a voice gasped.

Leon jumped. Was that…? "Impossible!"

But the shadow was pushing against the fence, seemingly ignorant of the broken helicopter rotor stabbed through his chest. "That eulogy…is what's impossible…" Finally, the blade came free of the fence. The dark form slowly trudged through the flames, becoming visible as he got past them. "My own impromptu funeral…and you can't even yell my name, or shed tears or something?"

He gaped. Sure enough, there was still a giant rotor blade sticking out of the man's chest. "What…how…?" Leon babbled.

Dante looked down. "Oh. Right." He then gripped the rotor, and started to push it through himself further.

"Wait, stop! That's just going to injure you worse!"

He ignored Leon, pushing the debris out completely. To Leon's continuing surprise, where there should have been a gaping wound that he could've seen through, there was no sign there had ever been an injury in the first place. "You were saying?"

He stared for what felt like an hour, sure that there was some logical explanation to everything. "…No offense, but are you a zombie?"

"Nah; half-demon. You wouldn't happen to know about Sparda, would you?" Leon's look wasn't hard to read. "Eh, well, worth a shot. Now I don't know about you, but we might want to put out this fire." He turned around, surveying the area.

Leon kept staring at him, not believing that his partner would just shrug that off.

…After ten seconds, though, he gave up and decided to make use of his time. Puzzling out reality could take a backseat to survival. "Well, should we go in? It might get us away from more exploding things falling from the sky."

"Fair enough." They strolled through the roof access door.

On the other side, they were met by ten pairs of small, angry eyes. They stared back, and none of the beings in the corridor moved.

Leon mustered up the courage to make the first move. "Um…"

As if his interjection had been a sudden gunshot, the crows flapped their wings angrily, taking to the air in the direction of the two humans that had just entered and cawing furiously.

"Retreat!" he yelled, pulling Dante with him back out of the door and slamming it shut behind them, protecting them from the murder. "…Maybe that could have gone better."

"If anyone asks, there were thirty crows. And they were breathing fire." How he was supposed to salvage his reputation if Lady caught wind of this…

"Speaking of fire, might as well try dealing with this one. You know; while we're out here." He scanned what was left of the roof for clues. There was the cracked roof, the destroyed fence and helicopter (both of which were still stubbornly burning), and…well, that was helpful…"Dante, up there." He pointed to the water tower at the top of the building.

"Huh. Good looking, kid."

He rolled his eyes. "Getting it to the spot we want will be the tough part, though. I'm guessing the valve for it is behind that wrecked fence. You know; the one that you were pinned to by a helicopter part?"

"Yeah, you're probably right. Which means we don't need to waste time with the valves." He walked over and picked up his sword. "Lesson two. With few exceptions, the quickest way is the best way."

"What are you gonna do? Shoot the tank?"

"Nah; the bullets might go through the other side, and then we'd have two holes leaking in separate directions." He pointed two fingers at the tower, as if lining up for something. "So the better solution…" He stepped towards the wreckage of the helicopter, still keeping his sights set. "Is the old-fashioned way."

And with a nod, he hurled the sword at the water tower like a javelin. It flew straight along his line of sight that he'd been measuring, hitting the target he'd been hoping for. He snapped his fingers, and the sword removed itself from the tank, flying back to his waiting hand like it was a helicopter itself. As it freed itself, a huge gout of water spilled onto the wreckage of the helicopter, extinguishing the flames that had spread.

He dusted his hands off. "Problem solved."

Leon looked at him in disbelief. For a few moments, he said nothing, still trying to process what had happened. Finally he spoke. "…Ignoring the whole 'sword boomerang' thing, how did you know that would work?"

"It was worth a try. So I tried." He returned the sword to his back; Leon was still trying to work out how it stayed there. "Well, let's see what we've got in here."

* * *

Lady's aim didn't waver, but she stared at the face of the undead man in shock as it shuffled closer. "No…Brad…we saved you…"

It was difficult to tell at first glance; something seemed to have stabbed through his mouth and out the back of his neck. But past the blood and the wound, the main features of his face were still there.

"Brad?" Claire asked, surprised. "You can't mean Brad _Vickers_ …" She stared critically at the reanimated man, and her face fell as she saw the resemblance.

Brad's arms outstretched, and his voice groaned painfully.

"…I'm sorry, old friend," Kendo said quietly. He raised his bowgun with a tremble in his hands. "Lady, he's gone. We can't help him anymore."

She tightened her grip, glaring at the zombie as it neared them. "…Yes we can." It was the only option, of course.

 _BANG! BANG!_

The corpse of the S.T.A.R.S. pilot crumpled, blood pouring from the holes in its head. It fell into an odd fetal position; if one looked at it from a few feet away, at just the right angle, they might mistake him for sleeping.

She sighed, lowering her pistol. "Forgive me." Kendo bowed his head.

Claire knelt down, gingerly sifting through the flak jacket on Brad's corpse. "There's a key here, but nothing else." She stuffed it into a pocket. "We'd give you a proper burial if we could, Brad, but we just don't have the time. I hope you can understand." She forced a small, sad smile and gave his vest a pat. Then she stood up, looking at the other two. "Let's go."

Without a word of complaint, they followed. Seconds later, though, they heard a distant rumble, and the police station seemed to shake slightly. They hurried faster.

* * *

As it turned out, all they got from the charred police 'copter was a small box of 9mm handgun bullets. Dante gave Leon a few moments to feed the rounds into one of his spare magazines; after he'd finished, they got ready to go through the roof access door.

Naturally, a new development caught their attention.

"Another helicopter?" Leon wondered aloud, looking into the night sky.

"Let's hope this one's got a better pilot," Dante said as he glanced at it as well. "Wait…it's carrying something underneath it. What is that?"

The helicopter, which seemed to be built for transporting cargo and was painted black, had a winch hooked beneath it, and what looked like six dark orange tanks hooked onto it by a strange apparatus. As they watched, one of the tanks shook slightly, and then dropped as the helicopter flew away. To their surprise, the tank was dropping…right onto them?!

"Get back!" Leon shouted, dive-tackling Dante away from the door. The tank seemed to shatter, a dark shape continuing the angle of descent as it crashed through the area just behind the door that the two had been about to enter. A few moments later, one of the pieces of the orange tank crashed into the remains of the helicopter, bouncing off of it and down to the alleyway below.

"And just where were those reflexes when I got skewered?" Dante muttered, shoving Leon off of him and getting up, dusting himself off. "Shouldn't I be the one making a heroic diving save to rescue someone in the nick of time?" He helped Leon up, looking at him with mock analysis. "Aren't you supposed to do that for pretty girls? You and I may fit the first part, but-"

"Oh, shut up," Leon said tiredly. "We didn't get crushed by whatever it was, so it worked out fine."

"Eh, I guess." There was a pause. "…Wanna see what that thing was? It probably distracted those crows."

He was about to answer "no", given what happened last time, but his curiosity overrode his caution. Besides, they needed to get into the station anyway. "Sure, why not. But if it's another zombie or something, let's kill it first and ask questions later."

"Aw, come on, what kind of living thing could survive-" He broke off immediately as he realized the contradiction. "But what if they're here to help? Maybe they were sent in to clear out the zombies and stuff."

Leon stared at him. "Something sent in to clear out the zombies that they dropped by helicopter?"

"Sounds like something I'd do."

He smirked. "Oh, right, I forgot. You're invincible."

"No, I'm un-killable. Big difference."

He rolled his eyes, and both drew their pistols. They went through the door, determined to face whatever was on the other side.


	5. 4: The Front Hall

Lady looked around the foyer of the Raccoon City Police Department, and couldn't help but think that whatever universe they were in, the inhabitants had a flair for imposing architecture. It looked less like headquarters for officers of the law and more like a…church, or something; right at the center of the hall, the far half of the hall was raised up a foot or so, with inclined walkways leading around a dry fountain in the middle of the whole thing. "Is this place really a police station? It looks like a repurposed chapel."

"Art museum, actually," Kendo corrected her as he checked a door to their right. "Chief Irons decided to keep a few pieces to spice up the place." No luck; locked.

"What, does fancy décor at a police station have a practical purpose? Put the people at ease? You'd think it'd drive the people with sticky fingers up a wall…"

"But if they steal anything in a police station…"

She smirked as they made their way to the middle of the hall. "Point taken." She tried a set of double doors, but they were locked as well.

They took one of the inclines and Claire tried a single door near the reception desk. To her surprise, this one was unlocked. "Ready to go in?" Her companions nodded, preparing their weapons as she led them through the door.

A groan met them as they entered. Fortunately, the source of the noise did not seem to be undead; the man was slumped against a warped locker and breathing heavily, and he looked up as they entered, a gun loosely held in one hand. "Hang in there!" Claire encouraged him. "You're badly injured, but we'll see what we can do. Are you the only officer alive in this building?"

The man nodded slowly. "W-who…are you?" he asked, his voice very weak. His eyes widened as he looked at the others. "Kendo…you're alive?"

"So far," he responded, his voice strained. "I could say the same about you."

"Not for long," he replied, a bitter edge coming to his weak voice. "I've been bitten; it won't be long now, and I'll…"

"Don't talk like that! You can't give up," Claire insisted. "Listen, my name's Claire. Claire Redfield. I'm looking for my brother, Chris; is he still in this city?" She wasn't sure which she was more terrified of, to be honest; a 'yes' or a 'no'.

"We lost all contact with the S.T.A.R.S. team over a week ago. Chris, Jill, Barry, Rebecca, Enrico, Brad…I couldn't tell you where any of them are now. We…we should have listened to them…"

"What do you mean? Did they warn you that this would happen?"

"A few months ago, there was an incident in the Arklay Mountains… involving a mansion filled with undead people and creatures…"

"I know," Lady said tersely. "I was there; we found out Umbrella was behind it, and blew the place up for good measure. You know, to specifically _prevent_ this sort of thing. What about the evidence they collected? Didn't they have enough to take Umbrella down?"

"What little they had…could hardly be called evidence. One or two documents and a few old knick-knacks…No one believed them. And now…this is our punishment…" He gave a hacking cough, covering a patch of the floor in front of him with blood.

 _I should have known..._ Lady growled inside her mind.

"We can't just leave him here," Kendo demanded. "We have to get him to safety."

"Don't worry about me…I'm a lost cause. But maybe there might be a few survivors left in the other rooms. Here; you'll need this." He handed Claire a small blue keycard. "It unlocks the other doors in the hall…That's all I can do to help you. Now go."

Claire hesitated. "B-but…"

"Just go!" He pointed his handgun right at Claire, but didn't bother putting his finger on the trigger or even looking at her. Still, his message was clear.

"…Okay. But we'll be back soon. Just hang on, okay?" Taking a last look at Marvin, they went back through the door they'd entered, making a beeline for the reception desk.

Meanwhile, the lock on the door they'd closed behind them clicked.

"And so, we do this dance once more."

Marvin raised his head at the unfamiliar voice. A hooded figure in a dark grey cloak was next to the door. "Who are you?"

"I am Death, here to guide you to the next world." He waited, but Marvin gave no response. "…No dice, huh? That one usually works…"

"Who are you?" he repeated.

"That is an excellent question. Unfortunately, in the time it would take me to explain, you'd be dead seven hours. For now, I need to borrow you for a favor."

Despite the blood loss, the exhaustion, and the despair, the R.P.D. officer managed a scowl at the other man. "No."

"I don't know what you're saying that for. I wasn't asking." He lowered his hood, and Marvin let out a yell that was swiftly silenced, and did not carry through the door so recently locked.

* * *

Speaking of doors, Dante and Leon were on the other side of the one on the roof. Other than the giant hole in the roof, the interior seemed pleasant enough. Nice and crow-free.

Neither of them liked it.

"So, where's the bomb or whatever it was that dropped in here?"

Leon shrugged. "Do you think it was some sort of deadly gas? The crows aren't here anymore."

Dante frowned, not having thought of that. Ignoring the Lady-like voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like "reckless", he moved around the corner. No birds or anything, but-

 _CRASH!_

He whipped around. Rubble had cascaded down in front of the door they'd come through.

"Looks like we're not going back outside," Leon muttered. He smirked at the look Dante gave him. "…Sorry. Forgot who I was talking to; you could smash your way through this place in your sleep."

"Damn straight."

He chuckled, advancing ahead of Dante. There were odd noises coming from around the next corner; almost like something large was repeatedly being picked up and set back down again. Leon advanced slowly, wondering just what he was getting himself into. As he neared the corner, someone else rounded the corner.

A big, bald, green-coated someone.

"Well, you're a tall drink of water," Leon muttered, backing up slowly as the giant advanced on him. "So…what's your deal? Come to wipe out zombies, or all of us?"

Dante sighed, holstering his pistols. "Leon, Leon…you're doing it all wrong." He edged his way in front of the young officer, pushing him back slightly as he addressed their new "friend". "Sorry about that; he's still in training. First up; are you human? Because we could use-"

 _THWACK!_

Leon jumped back as the massive…person?...punched Dante in the face so hard that it sounded like he'd broken about twenty bones. Dante's head had reeled slightly from the blow, but he turned his gaze slowly back to the green-clothed giant, a mean grin on his face. "You call that a punch, big boy?" In a blur of motion, he punched back; to Leon's surprise, it sent the mysterious man flying across the corridor. Dante shook his hand out as the giant got back up. "Watch and learn, kid!" He drew his pistols, giving them a spin, and then started firing at machine-gun speeds. Within a few seconds, the giant crumpled under the barrage. "…Huh. Kind of a letdown…"

Leon looked back and forth between Dante and the motionless form of his opponent. "…Looks like you passed judgment on Trenchy there."

"Anything undead or demonic is fair game, and whatever he was, it wasn't pure human. But seriously…Trenchy?"

"What's wrong with it?" he asked defensively. "He's big and wearing a trenchcoat. You got a better nickname?"

"Jolly Green G-"

" _No._ If we ever make it out of this hell, I do _not_ want panic attacks every time I see the frozen foods section!"

"Fine, fine…what about…I dunno…Mr. Extra Large?"

"Same problem, different area. Still, like the ring of it…Mr. X?"

Dante nodded. "Nice one." He walked over to their fallen foe, prodding it with his foot. As he did, a box of handgun ammo tumbled out of the depths of its green coat. "…Okay, then. 'To the victor', and all that good stuff." He tossed the box to Leon, and they continued through the corridor, exiting at the end.

Not long after they did, Mr. X rose back up, its mindless glare scanning the area for prey…

* * *

"Okay! Hall side doors…lock…released…" Lady rapped the side of the computer with her fist. "Hmm. Well, the doors are unlocked for us, anyway."

"Works for me," Claire said, stowing away another box of handgun shells.

"That's odd…" Kendo muttered. "There's a typewriter here, even though the computer's right there…"

"Well, no harm in it, I guess. Anyone have a preference for which door we take first?"

"I say the double doors. More space for us to maneuver and retreat, if need be," Lady reasoned. She strode towards the doors, but stopped as she heard Claire clear her throat. "What is it?"

"You promised you'd tell me about Chris. In fact…you haven't even told us your name."

She sighed. _Tying up loose ends is going to be the death of me…_ "My name is Lady. Before you ask, yes, that is my name, and no, I'd rather not go into it. As for your brother, my team gave him support during the S.T.A.R.S. investigation. But…" She frowned. _That man…why would he send us to help them if it meant nothing in the end? He had to have known that something like this would happen…_

" …'But'…what?"

She gave a start, shaking herself out of her reverie. "But we were separated after escaping, and I haven't seen any of his unit since."

"Well, according to Marvin, they only lost contact with him about a week ago or so," Kendo reminded them. "We might find a clue about him somewhere here; maybe in the old S.T.A.R.S. office?"

"Okay," Claire said, nodding. "Thanks." Lady gave her a curt nod, and they opened the doors.

As the doors closed behind them, a figure dropped from the balcony above to the floor below. "Phew…talk about overtime, I was just here!" He drew a large object from the folds of his cloak and set it on the desk. "There. Now let's see…what was the next part…" He snapped his fingers, walking towards the recently unlocked door near the main doors. "This is the one." He stepped through, grinning. "Yep! Two blue doors and...oh..."

The grin slid off his face as he found himself surrounded by seven zombies that were all staring straight at him. "Uhh…h-hiya, fellas…" He gulped as they all began to advance on him.

* * *

And there we are, the first five chapters of Resident DEvil 2! Hope you enjoyed, and hope that you all have a good Thanksgiving (or day that happens to be the same as Thanksgiving). See you next time!


	6. 5: Here Comes The Knight

Despite not knowing left from right or up from down after falling through the portal, Nero managed to land on his feet. A split-second afterward, he held his hands out and caught Kyrie. "Heh; catching you is a cinch, with that slim figure of yours."

She gave him a playful smile. "I take care of my body. I'm sure you could vouch for me…"

He set her down, fighting off the urge to itch his nose and turn his head. Instead, he looked around the area. "Where are we this time?"

"I don't know…I don't see any of the others, either." She looked at him, frowning. "Do you think he sent us to different worlds?"

"Let's hope not. C'mon; wherever we are, I've got a bad feeling about standing still." They wandered for a few minutes; from what he could tell, they were in a city that'd been hit by some sort of catastrophe. There was a bad smell lingering in the air, and moans of the undead were all around them.

"Nero…I know where we are."

He turned at the sound of her voice, looking at the sign she was pointing to. " 'Uptown Raccoon City'…wait…" Something stirred in his memory; hadn't he read that name somewhere recently? "Ringing any bells for you?"

She shook her head. "It says the police station is in this direction; maybe we should go there first?" She gasped. "Behind you!"

He spun, punching out with the Devil Bringer and knocking a group of five zombies down like bowling pins. He drew his trusty revolver, looking around for any more surprises before firing at each of the undead's heads. Not bothering to appreciate his work, he grabbed Kyrie's hand and led them out of the alley onto a street half-clogged with broken-down cars and debris. A few zombies greeted them, but they were no match for Blue Rose. He didn't dare use Red Queen with Kyrie in tow; it would only take one stray slash, and blood might get into her eyes or face.

After their "friends" had been dealt with, however, both of them froze, their heads tilted in concentration. What was that sound? "You heard it too, right?" Nero asked her.

She nodded. "It sounded like…thunder, I thought."

"Yeah, but…rapid. And it wasn't a weapon going off; not any weapon I've ever heard, anyway." They both waited, but whatever it was had stopped. "Well, shall we?" He helped her climb over a burnt-out car, following close behind. They traversed over another one when they heard the noise again, this time slightly louder. "There it is again. What is that?"

"It still sounds like thunder to me." She gave him a significant look. "Nero…as much as I don't like leaving your side, I don't think I can help you in battle. If you're about to fight something strong…"

He nodded. "Right…" He hated sidelining Kyrie, but there just wasn't time to find or make a weapon for her. They went through a nearby gate, finding another alleyway. He tried a sturdy-looking door just beyond the gate; it was unlocked. He peered inside, and breathed a sigh of relief. He could see the typewriter and large box; symbols that had, he'd noticed, guaranteed there would be no zombies or monsters while exploring the mansion's rooms. _Hope it works the same here, too…_ "This place looks safe. Lock the door and wait for me to return, okay?"

She nodded, and then embraced him, kissing him full on the lips. "Be safe, okay?"

He smiled. "Always." She closed the door, and he heard a click as he returned to the street beyond the gate. He had only taken a couple of steps into the street when he heard the noise again, this time much louder. He looked around warily, trying to pinpoint the source of the strange noise. Now that it was closer, he could make out a strange pattern within it; three rapid beats, followed by a short pause, and then repeating. Finally, he was able to locate the direction the sound was coming from; he could see a high gate in the distance. _If I had to guess, that must be the police station. Wonder if everyone else was headed in that direction…_

As he gazed in its direction, he saw the outline of a huge shape vault over the gate, racing right at him. Even as it drew closer, he held his ground, curious as to what it might be. It skidded to a halt in front of him, and in the dingy light of the streetlamps and open fires, he got his first good look at it.

It was a horse, but much bigger than any normal equine; this one was two, maybe three times taller than a human. Its eyes were bloodshot and sunken into its skull, and the skin over its ribs, neck, left front leg and right half of its face had rotted away, exposing muscle tissue (and in the case of its leg and ribs, a decent amount of bone). Its hair was missing; probably having rotted away or been torn out by other monsters. The beast reared on its hind legs, neighing madly.

Nero dusted his shoulder off, looking up at the undead equine casually. "Huh; an undead thoroughbred. When they say healthy as a horse, I'm pretty sure they didn't mean you, big guy." He hopped backwards as the beast's front legs crashed down where he'd been standing. The monster horse glared at him, its front legs stomping in place impatiently. Then, with a snort, it charged at him full-speed, its massive hooves crashing into the pavement so loudly that they sounded like thunder.

His Devil Bringer shot out, gripping a lamppost and pulling him out of the way of his enemy's attack. It trampled several cars in its wake before slowing down, turning to face him once more. "Always wanted to try riding horses, but the whole 'undead' thing puts a damper on that. Still, even if you were just a demon, I don't have time to play around today." He cracked his neck, shaking out his muscles and giving his enemy a wry smile. "Sorry, pal; time for you to go to that big racetrack in the sky."

He doubted very much that the horse knew what he was saying, but the way it looked at him, it was almost as if it was irritated all the same. It reared back, racing at him once more.

 _This pony only knows one trick; oh, well!_ He extended his Devil Bringer, grabbing the beast's head and launching him through the air. Unfortunately, the giant horse skidded to a halt faster than he expected, rearing up on its hind legs and batting in front of it with its fore legs. With a flash of gold light, Ascalon's shield appeared on his left arm; he held it in front of himself as one of the monster's hooves struck at him, bouncing off the shield with a loud _CLANG!_. The force of the attack sent him in a reverse angle towards the ground, but he caught a fire escape with the Devil Bringer, slowing himself down enough that he landed lightly on his feet, de-summoning the shield and retracting the Devil Bringer. "Smarter than you look, Charger. Still…"

He scooped a handful of loose gravel from the streets, flinging it at his opponent's exposed ribs. It let out a roar of pain and turned its back on him, trotting in the opposite direction. He drew Red Queen, revving the handle twice. "I'm the one with more horsepower!" He ran at the monster's hindquarters, slashing at its hooves as it retreated. His attack was met with a mighty kick from one of its back legs, the force of it causing him to skid back a few feet. The zombie horse ran to the far end of the street, turning to face him once more. He grinned, backing up a few steps and replacing his sword on his back. "Okay. We'll play it your way."

His enemy pawed the ground in front of it, its head lowered. He scraped the ground with one of his feet in imitation, his eyes narrowed. Then, as one, they raced at each other. The horse let out a wild screech. The shield and spear of Ascalon appeared in his hands. The distance between them closed, and the horse had by far more momentum and size in its favor. This time, it did not slow down to crush him with its front two feet; it intended to trample right over him. He didn't slow down either; focusing all his energy and momentum on the opening he would have…

There were mere feet between them when Nero acted. He brought the shield up to block its trampling feet once more, but stood his ground. Its left hoof crashed into the shield, but amazingly, it was forced back from crushing the small human.

It was his moment. With one of its legs having been stopped dead in its tracks (no pun intended), the rest of the equine flipped over him, having no chance to redirect its momentum as it slammed into the ground with an ear-splitting crash. He switched his grip on the spear, grabbing it with both hands and plunging downward. The attack found its mark; with the horse having tumbled forward, the spear stabbed through its lower jaw and pierced its brain. With a horrible screech, it kicked its legs into the air desperately for a few moments, and then became still. Nero withdrew the spear, and the form of the massive horse fell on its side.

"Sorry to cut our derby short, Charger. But I've got a little filly waiting for me." He de-summoned Ascalon, walking back to where he'd left Kyrie.

He knocked on the door of her safe room. "Kyrie, it's me. Sorry to make you wait so long."

The door unlocked, and she exited the room, smiling. "Did you find the cause of the mystery noise?"

He nodded, leading her back to the street. "There," he said, pointing at the fallen form of the horse. "It was so big that its galloping sounded-"

"Like thunder," she finished. "No wonder; look at how big it is."

"Yeah. Maybe we should get outta here before any of his friends show up; even if I could take the daily double no problem, we ought to find the others." With that, they resumed their path down the street. Apart from a few zombies in their path, they didn't have much resistance as they made their way towards the gates Nero had assumed were to the police station. Much to their fortune, the gates were latched but not locked. Nero pushed one of the gates open; it creaked loudly as he did so, and for a moment he was worried that it would alert another huge beast like the horse. But as he led Kyrie through and closed the gate behind them, nothing attacked them. He threw the latch shut, looking over the looming front of the Raccoon City Police Department.

"Do you think they've made it here already?"

"Dunno," he said, examining the windows for any signs of motion. "No telling how far away they got dropped off; they might have been kicked outta the portals right here, or they might have been further away. Who knows; they could be miles from here in any direction, maybe even underground."

"But what do _you_ think?"

He gave a small grin. _Trust Kyrie not to give up until the end._ "I don't know why, but something tells me they're close. I think they might be here already." He put his hands on his hips, eying the building critically. "Let's see if we can find a way in besides the front door; we've had enough surprises for one night, let alone two. Maybe we can find a few clues in the process."

And with that, the two began their search, not knowing that it was this action, indirectly, that would end up saving someone's life…and dooming another's.

* * *

December already, huh? How time flies...Anyway, hope you liked the chapter. Let me know if I've made typos, errors, or any other mistakes, and all feedback is welcome!

Have a great holiday season!


	7. 6: Licker

"More zombies," Lady sighed as they entered the reception area. "Why are there always more zombies?"

Kendo shrugged, firing a few bolts from his crossbow at the nearest one. "The universe must really like us, I guess. Think about it; they're slow and easy to kill in narrow spaces like this."

"I'd be afraid to see what it would look like if the universe hated us," Claire growled, dropping a zombie with two bullets and then reloading. "Maybe we'd have to-"

"Don't," Lady warned her. "Don't finish that sentence; don't even finish that _thought_. Just trust me."

Claire wasn't really into the whole superstitious stuff, but times like these…Maybe best not to press her luck. About a minute later, with the zombies dead (again) and their weapons reloaded, they searched the room. There was a divider at the far end, so they searched near the waiting room first. They found a large box (which Lady recognized all too well) and a notepad. It was a memorandum about a safe that had been moved to a first floor office to the east; it even had the safe code scrawled on it. _Helpful, if horribly irresponsible to leave lying around._ She stuffed the entire notepad into a pocket of her shorts; best to keep track of any other codes they stumbled on. "We ready to move on?"

Lady looked between her allies and the item box. "…This might sound strange, but…if anyone has anything to stash away, now's the time." The other two shook their heads. "…Just checking. After you."

They went to the other side of the divider; a small metal desk was near its opening, and a window and door were at the opposite end. Claire glanced at the lock of the desk drawer; it was a simple one. Maybe she could-

"What was that?!"

She whirled around at Kendo's shout, catching a glimpse of something moving past the window on the far wall before it disappeared. "What did it look like?"

"I don't know. But I swear it crawled right across the window."

She frowned. Maybe now wasn't the best time to be picking locks, if there was something out there bigger than zombies. "Let's keep moving. Don't drop your guard; we might run into whatever that thing was."

They went through the door into the corridor beyond. A strange electronic device was near a wire dangling from windows at the far end. The walls were a sickly green and tan, and for a split second, Claire thought she saw a giant trail of blood splashed across the floor and walls…

She blinked, and there wasn't any blood. Some dirt and grime, true, and what looked like small shards of glass at the far end, but no blood as of yet. That said, when they rounded the corner and neared the windows, they saw the corpse of a police officer, a puddle of blood where his head should be.

Kendo knelt down, examining it. "That's odd. It almost looks like the head was just…twisted off. What kind of zombie would do that?"

Lady thought briefly of the Tyrant she and her team had fought what seemed like just minutes ago. But that monster had used giant claws to attack; there was no evidence of anything like that here. _Could it be a demon? If so, why wouldn't they eat more than just the head?_ "I don't know. Be on guard; it might not have gone far." She searched the body for anything useful; fortunately for her, he had a small box of 9mm ammo tucked in his pockets. She fed the bullets into her weapons, feeling slightly more comfortable about their situation. She nodded to Claire, and they advanced down the hall.

They stopped again, however, at another puddle of blood on the floor. There was no dead body here; matter of fact, the blood seemed to be dripping directly from the ceiling. They looked up as one. As they did, something dropped toward them, landing in the puddle with a small splash. Kendo looked down at the now bloody object, and gave a start; it was a head!

Claire gasped, looking up at where the head had fallen from as she heard a wet clicking noise. A hideous, horrifying creature was crawling along the ceiling towards them. It was as if someone had flayed every inch of skin off a human being, exposing the muscle and sinew underneath. Massive claws on its hands and feet, currently stabbed into the ceiling to anchor it, were yellowed and spattered with blood. The head of the monster was misshapen; there was no hint of a skull whatsoever, nor any eyes. The brain was on full display, and as it hissed, she saw it baring a row of very sharp teeth. A long tongue, several feet in length, protruded from its mouth as its head turned in their direction. Drool dripped from its mouth as it took a rattling breath, and then it detached from the ceiling, twisting around to land on its feet.

Wordlessly, Lady held a finger to her lips. _So…THIS is what happens when the universe hates us._ Whatever this thing was, it didn't seem to be able to see. Perhaps they could sneak by it somehow…

Claire didn't dare take her eyes off of it. This…this… _freak of nature_ …Whoever or whatever made it was a monster themselves, as far as she was concerned. An intelligent monster, from the looks of it; the creature was growling angrily, advancing towards them at a slow pace as its tongue swept the air in front of them.

Kendo acted on instinct; he pointed his crossbow at the freak's head and fired. To his relieved surprise, all three darts impacted its brain. The monster roared, recoiling in pain so violently that it pitched backwards, clawing at its head in an attempt to remove the offending objects. A second later, it seemed to abandon that plan in favor of killing whatever had hurt it. It flipped itself back over, hissing and swiping its claws blindly in a circle around itself. Kendo watched in fascination; it was attacking the walls around it rather than them. A sudden flash of understanding hit him: _it hadn't heard him fire the crossbow._ Still, he only had a few more darts left; did he dare take another gamble on them?

Claire, deciding to capitalize on his actions, took careful aim and shot two quick shots at the monster's brain. Both hit their mark, and for a split second she thought they'd killed it; it flattened itself against the floor. Unfortunately, it was not quite dead; it reared up on its haunches, launching itself at where the gunfire had come from with its right arm making a sweeping slash. Time seemed to slow down; she leapt to her right to avoid the slash…she could see Lady out of the corner of her eye, un-slinging the bazooka from her back (was she actually crazy enough to use that thing so close?!)…Kendo was frozen, caught in the middle of trying to reload his bowgun, the claws aimed right at his throat…he was going to die and there was no way to stop it…A shape hurtled past her; a white-clothed, dark-haired shape, holding a large, dark shape in front of it…

There was a slight metallic echo, a pained, high-pitched squeal, a crash, and then the sound of heavy breathing. She blinked, and suddenly time restarted again. Lady was drawing deep breaths, leaning on her rocket launcher; the launcher seemed to be pinning down the head of the creature, which was no longer moving. With a grunt of exertion, Lady pulled the rocket launcher up, removing its bayonet from the bloodied floor. To Claire's surprise, the head of the abomination had been crushed into pieces against the hard ground.

"Next time…" the white-clothed gunner growled, beads of sweat dropping from her brow, "…duck."

* * *

Leon and Dante, meanwhile, had entered a plain corridor. Well, other than the front of the helicopter crashed into it, that is. They passed the first door along the way and decided not to go through a splintered door near the wreckage (Leon ignored Dante's assurance that he could break through it, pointing out that the structural integrity might be unstable enough already, what with the helicopter crash), instead entering a third one just past it. There was a statue wrapped in chains at the far end of the room, flanked by two statues with holes in their chests. A large, circular skylight above cast moonlight down on them, creating odd shadows. Leon swiped a box of shotgun shells sitting on a bookshelf on one side of the room, and then they both examined the statue. "'Tyranos the Brave,'" Leon read off. "'Only with the red lights of twin souls may he be revived.'" He looked at the statue's chest; the two sections over it looked like they might open. "Huh. Well, we'll have to come back here after we find those 'red lights', I guess."

"Guess again!" Dante called out cheerfully, drawing the sword from his back. "Remember lesson two?"

Leon looked at him, bemused, as he searched his memory. "Wasn't it something like…the quickest way is the best way?"

"Bingo! Let's see what he's won!" He slid the blade under the two chest plates and, with a smile, pressed on the hilt. The force of the sword-as-lever snapped both sections open, hanging limply off their broken hinges as he took the items within. "You've won…" His grin slid into a disappointed sigh. "A chess king and a blue square. Guess we'll have to wait for the lightning round for anything good, huh?"

"I guess so," he chuckled as his partner stuffed their "prizes" into his coat. "But something tells me I'm not gonna get that car."

"Nobody gets the car. Otherwise they'd run out of money quicker than you could say-"

 _CRASH!_

A large, skinless monster crashed through the skylight above them, hissing as it landed in a crouch behind them. Leon spun around, readying his gun, but ended up jumping backwards as a tongue several feet in length shot out at him.

"HEY!" _BAM!_ "No tongue until date three!"

Dante was holding his shotgun out in front of him; the double-blast of buckshot, at less than two feet away, had torn through the creature's brain with devastating force.

"Not your type, huh?" Leon teased. "Not mine either. Thanks for being my wingman."

"Any time," he said, tucking Hound-B away. "You know, if you ever manage to kill anything, we'll make a decent Devil Hunter out of you yet."

"And no amount of training on Earth could make you a good R.P.D. officer."

He shrugged in mock defeat. "Can't win 'em all…" He studied the thing that he'd killed, curious. Whatever it was, it wasn't a demon. But they'd never seen anything like this in the mansion; had someone at Umbrella been playing with more test tubes and less brain cells? He kicked it, but it didn't move. "Nice style with the skylight. But Phantom did it better." With not many clues to go on, they left the room again, taking the other non-broken door.

That one led them into a secretary's office. Dante scanned the room as Leon collected a box of handgun ammo; typewriter, ink ribbon, item box that was probably hooked up to others with some weird time-space nonsense…yep, this was looking familiar.

"Should we type up a note?" Leon asked him. "Just in case anyone else shows up."

"Nah. This place's gotta be smaller than the mansion we trashed; if there's anyone left here, and they're smart, they'll probably stay put in a room like this."

"What about Claire? Uh, a person I told to meet me here," he elaborated at Dante's raised eyebrow. "We don't know if she got here."

"If she did, we'll find her. There's gonna be tons of puzzles in here to slow us all down; we'll cross paths eventually."

"…I hope you're right." She did look like she could take care of herself, but all the same, it didn't feel right being split up. They left via the door at the opposite end of the office, finding themselves on a second-floor balcony in the front hall, bordering the walls. He could see a few zombies shuffling around on the balcony in the distance, but nothing to impede them immediately. They proceeded until they reached the middle point of the balcony; a large red mechanism read "Emergency Ladder". Leon flipped a switch on the side of it, and a metal ladder rolled downward on a track until it touched the first floor's…well, floor. "That should help," he said with satisfaction. "Now, about our friends here…"

The zombified police officers were dragging themselves slowly towards the two. "Urrr…"

* * *

The next hallway the group of three entered was heavily barricaded; anything that so much as resembled a window was covered in boards. They went through the cluttered corridor, worried about what might suddenly pop out at them, but they reached the door at the other end with no trouble.

The hallway after, however, was not nearly so kind. Turning left or right was made impossible by enough zombies to stop passage by sheer force of mass alone. And going straight meant bumping into three more zombies that had already noticed them. "Take out the ones in front of us; we can make a chokepoint!" Lady instructed them. All three fired on the undead in front of them until they collapsed; after which they ran forward and spun around, picking off zombie after zombie. There were nearly twenty in all by the time the last one fell; each of them had reloaded at least once. Lady held up a hand, motioning for them to stop. "This place…I've seen it before."

"Have you been to Raccoon City recently?" Claire asked.

"No…I saw something like this in…the mansion…" She trailed off, wondering how that could be possible. The architect of the mansion had been killed after he outlived his usefulness to Umbrella; this building, for all its imposing nature, had to be newer than thirty years old…

"Lady?"

Just what was going on here? Déjà vu was one thing, but something fishy was going on…

"Uh, Lady?"

She shook herself out of it. "Never mind. Let's check the room under the stairs. Something tells me we'll find another one of those item boxes." Before they did, though, she saw two green potted plants sitting innocently by the door. She scooped them up, nodding pointedly to Claire.

* * *

"Well, how was that? Am I…ahem…Devil Hunter material?"

Dante rolled his eyes, but couldn't help being impressed. Leon had managed two headshots in rapid succession, and from a quick draw at that. The third…he'd missed by a five foot margin, requiring three extra shots before he managed to put it down. Ah well, there was always room for improvement. "Progress, but don't quit your day job." He looked back towards the first floor; something had caught his eyes while he was rolling them. There was a large object on the desk in the lobby, and it looked suspiciously like a… "Shotgun! All right!" Ignoring the ladder completely, he vaulted over the railing, landing on the floor below as casually as could be. He grabbed it and, once more disregarding the ladder, leapt back up and pulled himself back onto the balcony. "I've already got one, so here. Merry Christmas." He dropped the gun into Leon's hands, a wide smile on his face.

"…'Merry Christmas'?" Leon repeated. "You…do realize that it's September, right?"

Dante blinked. "…Happy birthday, then."

"But my birthday's not until-"

"Look, do you want the damn shotgun or not?"

"Sheesh, fine," he said, slinging it around his back by its strap and adopting an offended expression. "Wake up on the wrong side of the sleigh today, Nick?"

"Oh, right, I get it…" Dante's voice was layered in sarcasm. "Because of the hair, and the red clothes…" He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "If I didn't have to show you the ropes, I'd charge you double just for that…"

Now it was Leon's turn to roll his eyes. "Whatever you say. Let's get a move on, Mr. Kringle."

"Leon…"

"Or do you prefer Kris?"

"I swear on everything I own…"

Deciding he would save more for later, Leon quit for the time being.

* * *

Our…um…A team, for lack of a better term, had investigated the room under the stairs. Just as Lady had suspected, there was an item box, an ink ribbon, and a typewriter. Still, there were a few unexpected things. For starters, the darkroom in the back. Also the lockers near the door. But the most surprising thing was also the smallest; a typed note lying next to another handwritten note. Claire picked up the handwritten one, while Lady picked up the typed one.

"It's an operation report. According to this, the officers were down to four people and nearly overrun. They decided to escape through the sewers, even with chances of success being slim. It says they intend to lock the door behind them in the eastern office, after leaving the key for it in the western office. Dated…the twenty-eighth?!"

"What's so special about the twenty-eighth?" Lady asked, feeling as if she'd missed something.

Claire stared at her. "…That was yesterday."

Well, dammit. "It's been a long night; anyway, do you think they made it?"

"Worth a try," Kendo said. "What about your note?"

Lady looked down at it. As much to her own surprise as the others', she gasped. "This is…"

Kendo peered over her shoulder. "That's from the twenty-eighth too. No wonder it got you spooked."

"Not that…it's signed 'Jill'."

"Let me see!" Claire insisted. She looked over Lady's other shoulder.

 _Umbrella has taken everything from me._

 _We tried to warn the people of Raccoon City. We tried our hardest to bring Umbrella to justice. But no one listened. No one. And now, this city burns._

 _I've been doing what I can to help people escape, but so far, no luck. Even now, the people are too stubborn to accept help, even if it gets them killed. I've been forced to come back here to find whatever I can to help me. Brad is…dead. And I don't have a clue where the rest of the squad is; our method of throwing off suspicion has also made us isolated. When I get out of here, I swear I'll destroy Umbrella. Every last bit of it._

 _Something is chasing me. I don't know what it is or where it came from. It's got the power of a demon, and the tenacity of the Tyrant we encountered; it was the one that killed Brad. It's after S.T.A.R.S.; I guess Umbrella decided we knew too much for our own good. That monster is on a mission to kill me, and it won't give up._

 _But I won't give up either._

 _Farewell to my life, farewell to my home. This is my last chance for survival…my last escape…_

Lady stowed away the note wordlessly. Part of her wished she'd been the one to fight alongside Jill; even from her note, she seemed strong. Maybe…just maybe…she was jealous of Da-

…No. Not even in her mind was she going to admit that one. She just knew he'd find out somehow and get even _more_ of an ego. If that was actually possible.

"Well, at least she's alive," Claire said, a look of determination on her face. "As for us, what do you think might be in these lockers?" She knocked on one of them, but nothing happened. "I wonder…" The lock on them looked out of place; it looked really old. She pulled out the key they'd retrieved from Brad, trying it in the locker.

It worked! She smiled, sliding it open. There was a small assortment of items; a set of clothes, a grenade, and was that…? "…There's a gun inside." She picked it up; it looked like an antique revolver.

"That's a Colt Single Action Army," Lady said, impressed. "Looks like this one was a personal firearm; not many cops carry these."

"No wonder," Claire grumbled. "Pain in the ass to reload, and it's empty quickly…"

"Hey!" Kendo looked personally insulted. "Show some respect for a classic, would you? With that gun, it's not about capacity, it's about stopping power. Six bullets? More than enough to kill anything that moves."

She shrugged. "Fine. But it's called a Colt .45 for a reason; all the bullets we've found so far have been nine millimeter rounds. In the end, the best gun is one you can use." She turned to set it back in the locker.

"Wait."

She turned back, looking at Lady. She had a look of utter longing that Claire had never seen on her face before; truth be told, almost no one else had ever seen that look on her face either. "…Yes?"

"If you don't want it…" Her eyes kept darting from Claire's face to the gun and back again.

She sighed. "Fine, your choice." She spun it in her hand, holding the handle out to Lady. "Just don't forget why we're in this place." She started rummaging through the clothes as Kendo grabbed the grenade.

"Oh, I won't." To her disappointment, she didn't have an empty holster for the gun, and she certainly wasn't going to tuck it into her shorts. "Would there happen to be-"

"Right here." Claire handed her a small leather holster with several straps.

She actually smiled at that. "Cheers." She hooked the support strap onto her belt, strapped the holster itself to her leg, and then set the revolver into it. "Like a glove."

"Look at you," Kendo said appreciatively. "A regular gunslinger."

"Well, I'm glad you two are having fun," Claire grumbled, tossing the clothes back in the locker haphazardly. "Cowboy boots and jeans I get, but the so-called 'shirt' that goes with the jacket barely covers anything at all!" Such a shame; the design on the jacket _was_ well-done.

"Well…" Kendo said, failing to hide a grin, "it could…provide a tactical-"

"We both know the real reason you want her to wear it," Lady said, fixing him with a disapproving look. "Besides, the less skin you show against the undead, the better. Her current clothes allow a good balance between mobility and protection."

"I stuck up for your gun…" he muttered sulkily.

"Kendo, if she wears that outfit, the only one who's going to be distracted in combat is _you_."

He hated that she was right, but it didn't mean he had to like it. "Okay, okay. I get it."

Lady stretched. "Hmm…I think we should take a bit to go over our items and notes. Let's stop here for now."

* * *

CHAPTER END

And so we shall.

Hello again to all my awesome readers! I highly doubt that I'll have this story finished by the end of the year, but I'll keep chipping away at it; with luck, I'll have it done sooner than the Resident Evil 2 remake!

...By which point I'll feel like I missed out for not including something cool that it introduced, but such is life. And I get to write a crossover about two of my favorite game series made by Capcom, so I really can't complain.

Hope that you enjoyed this chapter! Thanks for reading, review if you like (seriously, your reviews make my days), and see you next chapter!

EDIT: Typo pointed out by ArchangleMV, and now corrected. Thanks for the assist!


	8. 7: Bad Vibes

"Well, let's get going."

The "B squad" (that is, Leon and Dante) had attempted to go through the double doors at the west side of the balcony. Curiously, however, they were locked. After Dante's announcement, they decided to backtrack, going all the way back to the hallway with their friend, Mr. X. Said friend, however, had mysteriously disappeared.

"Awfully polite of him to dispose of himself," Leon commented.

"Nice try, kid, but it's never that easy."

"…Sums up this disaster, I suppose." Still, he told himself, there was always a chance that the giant man had given up. A near-impossible chance, true, but still vaguely possible…

This time, they went through the metal door (after unlocking it from their side), finding themselves on a small metal stairwell; in Leon's nervous state, every step of theirs that echoed off the metal sounded like a hammer against a gong. Still, they managed to traverse it with no enemy attacks.

The door at the bottom (beside which were two plants that Dante stubbornly refused to take) led them to a short corridor next to an office, with a windowed divider in-between. Oh, and there were lots of zombies in the office. "I got this," Dante said in a bored tone, reaching for his sword.

"I don't think so," Leon interjected. "If you keep taking out the easy ones, how am I supposed to get any practice in for tougher ones?" He didn't bother waiting for approval, drawing his sidearm and firing away.

Dante hung back, observing the officer's performance. Every now and then he would miss headshots (most likely due to shaky hands), but he almost never failed to score a hit. He doubted he'd need to step in, but…something was bothering him. This was too easy, especially fresh from the mansion ridiculousness. Was that cloaked jackass trying to put them off-balance, and throw demons at them when their guard was down? But…he'd laughed off the idea of demons in the mansion, hadn't he? So what did that mean?

With two final shots, Leon finished off the last of the zombies (this one had been flat on the floor, almost as if it was playing dead). "Another room cleared out. Just call us the Evil Exterminators."

"That sounds like the name of a rock band." With the room emptied, they searched for valuable objects. They found a box of handgun shells (which Leon took), a circular valve handle (which Dante took, though with a grumpy expression), and a safe inside what looked like a manager's office. "Well, what have we here?"

Leon kept his distance, knowing what was coming. "Time to try out your safe-cracking skills, huh?"

"Unless you've got the code."

"Today was supposed to be my first day; why would I know the code to the safe?"

Dante shrugged, removing the sword from his back. "Fine. Then we're doing it my way." Leon braced for the impact, but was shocked when the man in red leaned it against the wall and knelt down, pressing his ear to the safe door. He turned the dial very slowly, pausing on certain numbers and turning it in the opposite direction. About a minute later, he removed his ear and turned the door's handle; it swung open, revealing a box of shotgun shells, an odd case with a yellow lid, and what looked like a map. "Code's 2236, just in case."

"…Huh. I was kind of expecting you to force it open."

"Didn't want to wreck whatever was inside along with the lock. Good thing, too…" He took the case out. "…seeing as how these are acid rounds for a grenade launcher."

"…Yeah, good call." Deciding to make the best of this fortunate turn of events, he swiped the shotgun shells and the map. "You haven't…done something like that before, have you?"

"You're a cop; would you really expect any answer other than 'no'?"

Leon gave an apologetic shrug. "Fair enough."

* * *

Nero and Kyrie, meanwhile, had finished their exploration of the area outside the police headquarters. They found Brad's body in the underpass; they both spared a few moments of silence, out of respect. Otherwise, there was nothing else that they could find of value. Thus, they entered the main doors.

"Sheesh; sure is big enough," Nero muttered. "They could pack Fortuna's entire population in this hall alone, with room to spare."

Kyrie looked around the lobby, wondering just who the architect had been. Deciding that clues for their current situation should be the priority, she walked up to the dry fountain in the center, reading the plaque in front of it. "Hmm… 'If you wish for the key to unlock potential, show me the unicorn, the beautiful beast.' What does it mean, 'the unicorn'?"

Nero walked up behind her, looking at the plaque. "We had to solve weird puzzles like this one before. I'm guessing there's some sort of key or medal with a unicorn engraved on it that we need to bring back here."

"You need to use a key… just to get another key?"

"That's about the long and short, yeah."

"But that sounds…unnecessarily complicated."

"Oh, this isn't even the worst of it, trust me." He looked around the hall, wondering where they should go. "Well, if there's no clues about where to find the unicorn…whatever, why not try this way?" He led Kyrie back towards the main doors, where a single wooden door sat to the east. "Let's see what's behind door number one, shall we?"

* * *

Back with Claire, Lady, and Kendo, they had resumed their search and moved up the stairs beside the room with the typewriter. Proceeding along the corridor at the top, they came to a…

"Huh? What happened here?"

The remains of a large statue were crumpled on top of a large square stand. Two other statues weren't in much better shape; only one was still standing, and the other had toppled to the floor. Countless pieces of stone debris littered the ground.

"Looks like someone hit this place with a mortar shell," Kendo whispered in awe. "Must've been one hell of a battle here."

Something was tickling the back of Claire's mind. Not déjà vu, but…maybe the opposite? 'Déjà don't?' She couldn't think why seeing these statues gave her that kind of impression, but still…

"Whatever happened, it's over now. Let's keep moving," Lady advised them.

They all went through the door, but as they did, Claire couldn't help but feel as if they'd missed something…

The hallway beyond was poorly lit and depressingly gray; so it was somewhat of a surprise that Claire's face lit up eagerly. "It's the S.T.A.R.S. office! We might find a trace of my brother there!" …Okay, maybe that part was to be expected. They entered it, and her smile faded slightly. "…Someone was here before us."

The place looked ransacked. Papers were littering the floor, several chairs and posters were askew, and the largest desk in the room looked as if it had been searched carelessly several times.

"Why don't we split up and search?" Kendo suggested. "I'll check Wesker's desk."

"Fair enough; I'll look through my brother's things."

Lady looked slightly awkward. "I'll…er…check the other…" Without bothering to form anything coherent, she walked to the far end of the room, deciding that if she had no idea whose desks were whose, she might as well start from one side.

Their paths decided, the other two moved to their objectives. Taking her lockpick set out, she opened the drawer on her brother's desk. Inside was a blue-green book that was likewise locked with a clasp. A few moments later, she was skimming through it to the most recent entries.

 _August 8_ _th_

 _We talked with the chief again today, but he brushed us off, as usual. I_ _ **know**_ _what happened in that mansion, and to hell with his snide comments about psych evaluations! We may have lost the boatload of incriminating evidence after the others disappeared, but we had more than enough notes to warrant an investigation. Destroying the mansion…it was necessary, but it's made legal action against Umbrella move at a slug's pace. Not to mention, the vast majority of the town is employed by Umbrella; they refuse to believe inconvenient things about their bread and butter. I'm running out of options._

 _August 17_ _th_

 _We've been receiving reports about strange creatures appearing at random throughout the city. Whether it's demons, zombies, or insane experiments, Umbrella is the root of it all. I know it._

 _August 24_ _th_

 _Thanks to Jill, Barry, and Rebecca, we've been able to dig up a few leads. According to one of our sources, Umbrella is already hard at work developing another virus. Wasn't one enough?!_

 _We talked with Enrico, and we all agreed to "visit" the main Umbrella HQ in Europe. With luck, it'll be just like those zombies they made; cut off the head and the rest dies. Jill's decided to stay here and try to do what she can; it doesn't feel right going after Umbrella without her, but I need to respect her choice._

 _As much as I hate to keep her in the dark, I can't tell my sister what we're doing; she has her own life and her own worries, and I have no desire to put her in danger._

She sighed. _Chris...always trying to shelter me, even now._

 _Final Entry – To Whoever Reads This_

 _If this is anybody but Claire, please skip to the bulleted paragraph._

 _If this_ _ **is**_ _Claire, I am disappointed. I'm disappointed in myself for putting you in danger, however indirectly. Please understand, I didn't want to leave you in the dark, but this is_ _ **my**_ _responsibility. I don't want you to throw your life and future away just to follow my path._

She snorted. _And you wanted to do that by disappearing without a trace? Without even a warning or some sort of coded message?_ Claire continued reading.

 _Knowing you, though, you're probably reading this right now. You always were far too stubborn and headstrong. ...Just like your big brother._

 _I pray that the reports of Umbrella-engineered monsters were isolated incidents, but my gut tells me otherwise. The thing that terrifies me the most is the whole town becoming like the mansion: full of monsters and walking dead. That's another reason I didn't want you looking for me._

...Well, okay, she sort of had to concede the point on that one.

 _Look, Claire. There was a small group of people during the Spencer Mansion Incident that we managed to save, and who saved us both preemptively and in return more times than I can count. They weren't in the official report (and you'll know why, if you ever meet them), but trust me, they were there. If you happen to run across anyone named Dante, Nero, or a woman calling herself Lady (they don't use last names, by-the-by, though I'm not sure why), you can trust them with your life. I don't know for certain that you'll run across them, but call it another gut feeling. If you meet any one of them, then I can guarantee that you will escape Raccoon City alive. If you meet all three, I have no doubt in my mind that you and any other survivors you find will be completely safe under their protection._

 _...And if you do meet all three, tell Dante he still owes me that beer. The other two can back you up._

She giggled at that.

 _But jokes aside, they're good people._

 _\- Now, whoever you may be that is reading this, I have this advice for you. If you meet Police Chief Irons under any circumstance, do the following:_

 _ **RUN.**_

 _I don't know whether it was the mansion incident that set him off, or that he was always that crazy and we just couldn't see it, but the man has become unbalanced lately. A contact of mine did some digging, and he's got a nasty history; not to mention there's a good chance he's been taking bribes from Umbrella. Don't bother reasoning with him, and don't waste time saving him if it comes to that. Just put as many doors, buildings, and heavy objects between the two of you as fast as you possibly can._

 _To help you get out of here more quickly, I've hidden a spare Unicorn Medal in one of my CD cases. Place it on the indent of the pedestal in the entrance hall, and it will give you the spade precinct key. It's not a free ticket out of here, and I apologize for that, but it's the only other thing I can leave behind without Irons catching on._

 _Whoever you are, I wish you luck, courage, and a speedy departure._

 _And Claire? I'm sorry. Please be safe._

She set the diary back, sifting through Chris's CD cases to find the promised medal. So she'd gotten herself into this whole mess for nothing…

"All right!"

She looked up; Kendo was holding up a small object proudly. "What is it?"

"No idea! But it took forever to find this stupid thing; it must be important."

She shrugged, focusing back on her task, but was distracted once more, this time from the opposite side of the room.

"Claire! Got something for you."

"Just a sec." The last CD case that she opened, a bronze medal tumbled out. _Of course it's the last one I check._ She stuffed it in her back pocket, and walked over to Lady, who was standing beside an open weapons locker. "What is it?"

"Well, you gave me the last gun, so…" She gestured into the locker. "All yours."

Claire's gaze turned to the locker, and then her eyes went wide. "Is that…?"

"It is."

She took the object from the locker gingerly, turning it over slowly in her hands. "But…what about you?" She looked up at the other woman, who was smiling and patting the rocket launcher on her back. "…Right."

Kendo made his way over to them, looking at the new find with abject delight. "An M79?! Zombies will be a cakewalk with that beast!"

"It's empty."

His face fell. "…Oh. Well…we should be able to find ammo around here somewhere!"

"Hope so, but not holding my breath. Still, no sense throwing away a perfectly good gun." She made to sling the strap around herself, but stopped. "Lady?"

"What is it?"

"Can you help me with this? I want to set it up so that I can swing it into my hands quickly."

Lady blinked, surprised. "Okay, but…why?"

"After seeing what you did to that skinless…freaky thing, I think speed is going to be our biggest ally."

She shrugged, feeling flattered despite herself. "Sure. Just give me a minute."

* * *

Having backtracked into the corridor that took them to the secretary's office and onto the balcony beyond, Leon led them down the ladder this time. He wasn't sure whether it was fortunate that only the double doors were unlocked on the first floor, but they went through them anyway. Beyond, they found a reception area with several unmoving zombies.

"Looks like we missed out on all the fun," Dante muttered, looking curiously at one of the bodies. _Bullet wounds; wonder if it's Lady or Nero?_ They continued through the door at the other end (Leon jumped slightly, as if he'd seen something shocking, but blinked and seemed to dismiss it), traversing the hallway until they found another skinless humanoid corpse like the one that Dante had shot; this one was missing its head already. "Looks like our pal from before."

"There're more of those things?" Leon growled. "At least someone took care of this one for us." Not far away, he saw a potted green herb. He handed it to Dante, who gave him an irritable look but took it anyway. Through another corridor (with ominously boarded windows and a locked door, but nothing to kill), and then they were at a large stairwell with a hallway leading away from it.

"Jill…" Dante muttered, looking up at the stairs and frowning.

"Hmm? You see someone?"

"No, it's just…Jill and I saw a staircase in the mansion; she said she'd seen some just like it somewhere. These look just like them."

"Huh. Weird coincidence."

The Devil Hunter stared upwards, his mind's eye comparing the scene he saw with the memory of one. "…I don't know about that. Let's see what's waiting for us at the top."

Leon shrugged, following him up the stairs to the hallway at the top. Walking down it, they came upon a square room. A large statue in the center was holding a huge red gem in its hand; it was flanked by two other statues resting on the floor, one grey-colored and one dark yellow.

"Sweet!" Dante exclaimed, walking up to the center statue and looking straight at the gem. "Look at the size of that ruby; you could get a lifetime supply of pizza and then some after selling that puppy."

Leon smirked, directing his gaze to the plaque on the large statue that his partner had completely ignored. "Hey, look at this."

Dante turned his gaze from the large gem to Leon. "What's up?"

"It says 'I seek the god of the sun and the god of the moon. Their gaze upon me is the only thing that shall release the pure red soul.' " He looked to the two statues. "I guess that means we have to push those on top of the pressure plates to release it. And we'll have to do it in a way that they're looking at the center statue. All right, you go to the one by the door, and I'll-"

"I have a better idea." Dante declared.

Leon paused, looking at him warily. "Okay, what?"

In response, the Devil Hunter reared back his left fist and punched the statue's wrist, knocking the hand holding the gem clean off. As Leon gaped, he nonchalantly walked over and picked the hand up, then pressed the broken levers sticking out of it. With that, the gem slid out of the stone hand and into Dante's waiting one, upon which he pocketed it.

"You over-think this. Lesson two, remember?" Dante said, crushing the stone hand into a crumpled mess of rocks and steel. "Now let's go." He walked to the door beyond the statues and checked it. "Locked. Well, let's check back downstairs. One of those doors should have something useful." He strode off back in the direction of the stairs. Shaking his head in wonder, Leon followed.

* * *

CHAPTER END

Merry Christmas, everyone! Hope that you have a good one, and that you get a chance to relax from work/school/busy life/whatever, at least for a day. :-)

I realize this chapter wasn't exactly "Christmas-y", but for whatever it's worth, it's my Christmas gift to all of you. Happy holidays!


	9. 8: A Casualty

Nero instantly regretted going through that door.

That was understandable, really; as soon as they had, they'd instantly found themselves surrounded by zombies. Their one small saving grace was that the undead didn't seem to have noticed them yet; they were all staring in the direction of the blue double doors a few feet away. "Kyrie," Nero whispered. "Let's go back."

She tried to turn the knob, but it wouldn't budge. "I can't, it's locked," she whispered back.

"What? Shit…" He concentrated, and the golden shield and spear appeared in his hands. "I'll push through by force if I have to; stay behind me and I'll clear a path."

The zombies began to turn in their direction; all the whispering finally seemed to have caught their attention.

"Ready? GO!" He held his shield out in front, swiping back and forth with the spear over the top of it. Several heads rolled unceremoniously to the ground, the bodies they'd once owned collapsing afterwards. But the hallway was packed with them; zombie policemen, zombie women with different colored shirts, zombies with punk rock t-shirts, zombies with bloodstained white shirts, a zombie with a cloak, zombies with red shirts…wait, what the hell?! "I'm too busy to get a good look, but did you just see that one?" he called over the chorus of zombie moans.

"You mean the one with a blue shirt? I don't think she was Jill."

"No, the one just before that! Wasn't there one with a cloak?"

She looked back in the direction they'd come from. There were too many bodies to be certain, but…maybe that one? Or was it just a black shirt? It was buried under two others, so… "Sorry, I can't be sure without going back!"

"Then don't worry about it; just stick close, okay?"

It took a few minutes, after which Nero's right arm was feeling mildly tired from the constant swinging, but they'd eventually made it to the end of the long hallway. He breathed a sigh of relief after he'd cut down the last zombie, shaking out his arm. "What a pain…you think we should go through the door here, or double back to those blue doors?"

"Maybe we could take a few moments to consider? You could use a short rest."

He didn't, really, but he didn't have the heart to refuse. So they waited.

* * *

It was at this time that Dante and Leon had gone into the room under the stairs.

"They sure shoved a lotta stuff in here," Dante muttered. "Lockers, shelves, a desk, and a darkroom; what, was it a base camp for the stairs?"

"Most officers here are in good shape. Or… _were_ , anyway," Leon corrected himself. He browsed through the locker as Dante strode over to the darkroom, drawing the curtain back across the doorway. "There's a few sets of clothes here, but nothing else worthwhile. Any racy pics developing on those walls?"

"You betcha! There's tons of skin to be found in here."

Leon smirked as he toyed absently with an R.P.D. cap, but tossed it unceremoniously back into the locker. "Yeah, I get it. Because of the zombies. They must've been trying to document the infection."

"Ah, you're no fun."

"I think you're a little too _much_ fun, Mr. Half-Demon Merc."

"That is what the ladies tell me." Just as Leon snorted, something caught his eye on one of the walls in the darkroom. It was tough to see in the red light, but it was some sort of glyph written (or painted, or what have you) in a dark substance. The Devil Hunter closed his eyes.

"Well, best to make sure we find the ladies we DO know and get out of here." Leon made toward the door, but stopped. No response?

It had been a while since he'd heard something like it, but…there was no mistaking that faint echo…

"Dante? Did you find something?"

A smile crossed his face. _It's you again._ He reached out, placing his palm on the strange glyph.

Leon strode over to the curtain of the darkroom. "While in any other situation I'd appreciate your silence, could you at least-" He threw the curtain aside, and the rest of his sentence came to a crashing halt. _What the…?_

He blinked. "…Where did he go?"

* * *

 _Timber Jockey_

Dante opened his eyes. He was standing in the middle of a large street flanked with flaming wrecks of cars. _Hmm…another part of Raccoon City?_

He heard a loud snort behind him and turned around. A massive horse, twice as tall as he was, was looming over him. "Geryon? Nah, that wouldn't make sense anyway…" Indeed, the horse was not pulling a wicked carriage, nor were its mane or eyes burning with blue fire. Still, its bloodshot eyes goggled madly at the Devil Hunter, and he had a feeling this particular horse wouldn't be much more friendly than the Timesteed. "Settle down, Flicka. Don't be such a nag." Its nostrils flared, and the beast charged at him. He grinned, crouching down and watching the approaching monster patiently. Just as it was about to trample over him, he leapt up into the air; it passed right under him as he did. He flipped forward, kicking the creature in the back of the head as it charged. Unbalanced, the horse stumbled, and as Dante landed neatly, it crashed forward, sliding some distance before coming to a stop. It got back to its feet, spinning around to glare at him. "C'mon!" he said, beckoning to the enormous equine.

It charged at him again, and the same thing happened a second time; Dante leapt over it and hit its head as it passed under him (though this time, it was a punch). It crashed to the ground again, and it was a little shakier getting to its feet once more. It swayed slightly, winded and dizzy. "That all you got? Come on, wimp!"

It raced at him once more, and as he leapt over it, several things happened. The instant he cleared its head, the sound of something small clattering to the ground reached his ears. He grinned, spinning in the air in a blur of motion and landing on the creature's back. It crumpled, letting out a final warped neigh. The Devil Hunter kept his balance as the form of the large horse skidded to a stop. "Off to the extra-large glue factory with you, dude." He pulled Rebellion from the back of the horse's head, flicking the blood off and placing it on his back once more. "Sorry, but no matter how much horsepower you've got, I'll always be the top stud."

He walked over to the item that was hovering just above the street, glowing a faint light. He reached for the chunk of blue crystal. _Just one more and I'll have a full set!_ The instant he grabbed it, the world swam around him and he felt himself being carried away…

* * *

Claire, with her new grenade launcher properly slung around her (courtesy of Lady), led the others out of the S.T.A.R.S. office. They made their way back to the front hall, going down the stairs and through the corridors. When they got to the corridor with the boarded-up windows, however, they ran into a slight problem.

The boards began to rattle, and the groans of the undead could be heard coming from behind them. Lady sighed. _I've seen this movie; next they're going to burst through suddenly just to startle us all…_

They all paused, keeping their guns trained on the rattling boards. After a minute of waiting, the noise stopped instantly; zombie moans, thudding boards, everything.

 _Right, of course…they won't crash through until we get close…_ "Keep your guns ready. Assume those boards will break when we get near them." They inched by the barricaded windows, watching them all with apprehension.

The deathly silence did not lift. There was no sudden crash, no zombies pouring into the hallway…there weren't even any monsters crawling toward them on the ceiling (and Lady would know; she checked). None of them dared speak for fear of startling the others into firing their weapon.

And then, something did break the silence. A slow, steady, thumping sound from the end of the corridor they were advancing towards. Kendo stopped in place, listening closely. It almost sounded like…footsteps?

"No matter what, stay clear of the windows," Claire whispered to them. The others nodded, and she moved forwards cautiously. What was making that sound? And was it friendly?

A large shape rounded the corner, walking slowly in their direction. It was a tall, bald man, clothed in a green trench coat. "Hold it right there!" Kendo ordered. "Identify yourself!"

 _CRASH!_

The boards covering the window nearest the tall stranger burst inward, and three zombies fell into the corridor. Getting to their feet, they began advancing towards the giant. The expression on his face never changed as he struck; a right hook punched a zombie right back out of the window, and a left hook hit another zombie's head against the wall with such force that the former human's head burst like a grape as the wall cracked. The third zombie stumbled slightly over the headless corpse of its fellow, and as it did, the green-coated…man?…raised both arms overhead, fists clenched. The zombie looked up just in time to see the fists hammer down; the three humans in the corridor cringed at what was left of the zombie as it dropped limply to the floor. With that done, the giant began to advance at them again.

"Friend or foe?" Claire asked. "I'd rather not shoot someone who can do _that_ if I can help it."

"Foe. He wouldn't be coming towards us otherwise," Lady reasoned.

It made sense, but that didn't make the prospect of fighting the giant any more appealing. Even as he raised his crossbow, Kendo kept seeing, in his mind's eye, an image of that giant knocking his head clean off of his shoulders…

All of them fired at the bald behemoth, aiming for the head as best they could. But it was a deceptively small target, especially compared to the rest of him. The whole time, they had to keep backing up as he advanced, slowly but steadily. Just as they were about to run out of room, the giant stopped in his tracks, swaying slightly, before falling forward. The impact shook the floor so badly it almost knocked them off their feet.

"Anything on him?" Lady asked Claire.

She strode forward, searching their downed opponent. "A handgun clip. But that's about it."

"You hang onto it, then. How are we on ammo?"

Claire checked hers. "Counting this, I've got a magazine and a half of pistol rounds."

"Three crossbow bolts and a grenade," Kendo said, frowning.

"And I've got two pistol clips and three shotgun shells," Lady rounded off with a sigh. She had one more missile, true, but in these cramped quarters, it would only get them all killed. "Let's hope we can find some more soon."

With their large foe vanquished, they stepped over him and returned to the main hall. Claire set the unicorn medal into the empty space on the pedestal in front of the fountain; they all watched as the statue rocked forwards, a key falling out of the vase in the statue's hands and landing on the pedestal. Claire snatched it up, smiling. "Finally! One step closer to getting out of this mess."

Lady nodded in agreement, looking around the hall for more information on where to go next. Movement on the balcony caught her eye; she turned to see a familiar-looking cloaked man opening a door. "HEY!" she shouted.

He whirled around at the sound of Lady's voice, looking in all directions for the source. When he finally caught sight of her, he jumped in panic, turning back to the door and practically leaping through.

"Get back here!" She brought her trusted rocket launcher into her hands, firing the bayonet into the wall above the door the man had escaped through. With the flip of a switch, she zipped upwards along the rope attached to the embedded knife.

"Lady, wait!" Claire yelled. She and Kendo scanned the room for a way to chase after their companion as she flung the door open. Spotting the emergency ladder, they sprinted to it, following it up to the second floor balcony, and following the balcony to the room on the other side of the door that Lady had chased the man through. There was no sign of the man anywhere. "That…was dangerous!" she panted. "You almost got…separated from us!"

"I was too late," she snapped, facing the door on the other side of the room. She didn't seem to have heard Claire at all. "If I'd have caught him…"

"Who was that?" Kendo asked. "Another survivor?"

"Someone who might have something to do with this incident."

"What?!"

She finally turned towards them just as their breath began to return to them. "It's difficult to explain, but he knew something about the mansion, too. I don't think he's responsible, exactly, but he's not innocent. If only we could corner him…"

"Maybe he went through the door?" Claire suggested.

"I doubt it, but as long as we're here, it wouldn't hurt. Everybody ready?"

"Ready to hear an apology," Kendo grumbled.

" _Later_. This is time-sensitive. Now are you ready?" Reluctantly, it seemed, he nodded. Claire nodded as well. "Then let's not waste any more time." She opened the door, the group of three filing through into the next hallway.

* * *

Dante found himself standing directly behind Leon as he opened the curtain to the darkroom. "…Where did he go?"

"Boo."

Leon hurled himself forward, drawing his pistol as his back slammed into the wall of the darkroom. "Hey! What was that for?! I could have shot you!" He lowered his pistol. "…Oh, right. But that's still a bad idea! If I start assuming it's you sneaking up, and something else gets the drop on us…"

Well, dammit, now he felt bad. "Forgot that you don't know about those things." …Not bad enough to keep the chuckle to himself, of course.

"Mind explaining these 'things', and why they're worth driving your teammate up a wall?"

He held out his palm, showing the blue crystal shard to Leon. "These things are pretty rare, but always worth it. If I find one more, I'll have a full set."

"…Look, I like collecting as much as the next guy, but this is hardly the time-"

The man in red rolled his eyes. "Let's pretend, for the sake of getting this over with, that a full set of these means me surviving another hit from a helicopter."

Leon stared at the small chunk of material curiously. "Doesn't look like much."

"Looks can be deceiving."

Leon shrugged. "Fair enough. After all, just look at you."

"Please _stop_ looking at me."

* * *

The instant the door clicked shut behind the team, they heard something that chilled their blood.

A soft, menacing hiss.

And several more joined in.

Claire looked at the walls around them. It was some sort of sick joke…it had to be…Because five of those skinless monsters were pointed in their direction. One was climbing down towards the door they'd exited; if they tried to retreat, it would be on them before they could all get through the door.

 _We don't have enough ammo or space for this…_ Lady looked backwards, making "follow me" motions in utter silence. Two of the freaks were perched above a door further down the hallway, with a third settled on the end of the corridor, so that direction was a no-go. The only direction left was towards the corner of the hallway; the fifth of the creatures was above a splintered door that looked impossible to open normally. They crept, inch by inch, around the corner. The monster's face was pointed towards the door they had come out of, drool running down its open mouth. Had Claire dared to look backwards, she was certain she would have seen its fellow freaks clustered around the door to the secretary's office. The nose of a helicopter had crashed through the wall, but her heart leapt; there was a door just beyond! Lady, ahead of her, motioned her forwards; she could only pray that Kendo was following behind

" _AAAAHHH!_ "

A woman's scream cut the still air. Claire only just had enough attention to spare that she noticed it came from behind the broken door before the creatures roared. Everything seemed to slow down as her heart pounded in her ears.

A rapid clicking came from around the corner.

The monster above the door dropped down between her and Kendo.

His crossbow raised, firing the last three bolts into the creature's exposed brain.

"GO!"

She felt herself being pulled backwards even as she raised her pistol. _No…NO!_

He ripped the grenade from his shirt, and the clicking had grown louder; the creatures were close.

Her last image of Kendo was of him turning to face the oncoming enemies he had no hope to fend off alone…before she fell backwards through a door frame, and Lady slammed the door, blocking it with her body.

* * *

The pin separated from the grenade, and he rolled it in his hand, the handle flying off of it. Kendo held up his middle finger to the approaching horde, the pin still spinning around it.

* * *

Claire shot to her feet as Lady latched the door. "What are you doing? Get out of the way! We-"

The force of an explosion shook them, the pained final snarls of the monsters barely audible over the roar of detonation.

"No…" she breathed.

Lady nodded solemnly.

* * *

CHAPTER END


	10. 9: Paths Cross

Her fists clenched. "Out. Of. My way."

"He's gone, Claire. But the rest of them might not be. We have to make sure we don't get ambushed again, or his whole sacrifice will have been pointless."

Claire hated that she was being sensible. _…Kendo…_ "I…I just…"

"Search the room."

"What?!"

"If you want to survive, keep yourself busy. There's time for tears when the nightmare's over."

She turned her back on the other woman. "I can't believe how cold you are."

"I'm also _alive_. And if you don't mind, I'd like to stay that way."

Claire started walking towards the other side of the room to start searching there; whatever could get her some breathing room for a little while. _What the hell's the point of surviving this monster-filled nightmare if we turn into monsters ourselves?_

* * *

With the darkroom having nothing more to offer for the time being, the two men resumed their search. The only places in the corridor outside the darkroom they hadn't checked yet were the restrooms.

"Do we really have to?"

"Yes, Dante. For all we know, they're full of critical items."

"Oh, they're full of somethin', all right…"

The state inside the men's room was…well…not good. Several corpses littered the tiled floor, and altogether there was probably only about a square foot that hadn't been covered in blood or worse. Leon had been hopeful about a pistol that he saw sticking out of the sink, until he got closer and saw it overflowing with water. _Hopelessly rusted from all the water. Well, I tried._

 _BANG!_

Leon jumped about a foot into the air before whirling around. His red-coated companion was standing above one of the corpses, a pistol clutched in his hand. "What was that?! Another one of those things?"

"Nah. But we better not take any chances." He then walked to the next body, crouching and placing a finger on its wrist; with a small nod, he stood back up and pointed his pistol again. _BANG!_

"Would you stop wasting ammo?! They're dead. That won't change anything."

"Okay, show of hands, who here has dealt with zombies before?" He raised his own hand into the air, staring at Leon, who hadn't moved. "Exactly. Lesson three: unless it melts or you blast its brains out, assume it's alive. You have _no_ idea how many people screw that one up…"

"Okay, I hear you," Leon grumbled, holding his hands up in defeat and wondering just how many of these rules he was expected to remember. He waited until the other man had finished shooting the motionless bodies before resuming his search. Nothing seemed worthwhile, and he was about to give up entirely when he spotted something. "Here we go!" He handed the potted herb to Dante.

He sighed. "Another one of those damn things? Can't you just stuff it in the box?"

"If we need recovery, I don't want to have to travel a mile for it. Keep items of immediate importance on your immediate person. Rule four for the R.P.D."

Dante rolled his eyes, stuffing the yellow plant in his coat. "You're not even keeping it on your immediate person; you'll just come cryin' to me whenever you get hurt. I'm not a walking vending machine."

"You're right; a vending machine would have more personality."

"Oh, please. Between the two of us, you've got _way_ less personality."

Leon smirked. "Oh, is that right?"

"I'd find more personality in a…" His mind grasped wildly for a descriptor. "…a…I dunno, a giant block of…tofu."

"…Tofu."

"Yeah. With Jill's hat," he added as an afterthought.

"This coming from the Human Woodchipper? Oh, sorry…the Mostly Human Woodchipper."

"Hey, the ladies love me."

"And who says they don't love me?" Leon countered with a triumphant grin. And then he realized: he was currently in the bathroom of a police station, surrounded by corpses, zombies, and monsters, arguing with an unkillable man about which one of them was more popular. "You know…there are better places to have this conversation. Let's get outta here; other crap to take care of." He heard a chuckle behind him. "That was _not_ intentional."

* * *

Nero and Kyrie, meanwhile (the…C team?), had elected to enter the door at the far end of the corridor. It lead them straight into another one. But the hallway was now a murky tan rather than faded blue, with the windows lining its far side so heavily boarded up that a moth probably couldn't get through them, much less a zombie.

It was also empty, and that didn't sit well with Nero at all. "Stay vigilant. It's too quiet here; I don't like it," he said in a low whisper.

"What should I stay vigilant for?" Kyrie whispered back.

"Could be anything. Maybe a flicker of movement, maybe a strange sound, maybe-"

 _Thump. Thump. Thump._

"Like that?"

"Yeah, just like that," the Holy Knight muttered, cautiously leading them around the first bend of the corridor. The thumping noise sounded like it was coming from further ahead, but there was another bend coming up. "Hang back for a sec; I'll scout it out." He crept forward to the next turn, slowly peering around the corner. _What the hell would make that kind of-_

He jumped backwards, two giant fists crashing down onto where he'd been. He drew Red Queen in a smooth motion, fixing his opponent with a smirk. "Hello to you too, tall bald and ugly." The green-coated man trudged towards him, his heavy footfalls making the thumping sound they'd heard earlier. "Kyrie, get back to the door! I'll slice this thing to pieces."

It took her a moment to respond. "All right."

"I won't be long." Nero stared at the being before him in disappointment. _Is this the best they've got? People plus zombie virus equals slightly bigger zombie people? Heh, whatever._ He brought his blade down in a casual stroke.

 _CLANG_

… _Okay, that's new!_ He was so startled that he only started to dodge the giant's incoming punch at the last moment; it only managed to catch him with half of the fist, but even that was enough to make him stagger backwards.

 _It seems that our opponent is resistant to close combat, Sir Nero_ Ascalon informed him.

 _It's just Nero, and I can see that!_ He managed to duck under the next two swings, and then saw his opportunity. He focused his strength into a vicious uppercut with the Devil Bringer. To his disappointment, it only managed to take his enemy slightly off balance. Still…

He flipped Red Queen over in his left hand, holding it in a reverse grip as he stabbed downward and reached into his coat with the Devil Bringer. His enemy didn't roar in pain like he'd expected, which was odd, considering that his blade had impaled the giant's right foot. Wasting no time, he drew Blue Rose with his glowing hand, taking as much time as he dared to funnel energy from the Devil Bringer into it before it fired. The empowered double shot knocked the green-coated giant several feet back until he crashed into a wall. For a few tense moments, Nero waited for the counterattack.

…And then the giant slowly fell to its knees, wobbling slightly before crashing down the rest of the way.

He returned Red Queen to his back, but didn't dare let his guard down. He transferred Blue Rose to his left hand, keeping it trained on his downed enemy the whole time. _No way he's dead. That was too easy._

 _Without demonic blood, I cannot sense its fate either way. Shall you check its vitals?_

 _And have it spring up and break my arm? No thanks; I'm in no hurry to wear a sling again._

 _If I may, Sir Nero-_

 _Nero_ he thought stubbornly.

 _My apologies, Sir Nero. But might I suggest removing its head?_

He seriously considered the idea for a moment. It could help…and it certainly couldn't hurt…could it?

"Nero? Is it over?"

He turned around, seeing Kyrie approaching from behind the other corner. "For now, I guess." _Who knows what its blood does when exposed to the air, or if it could just grow another head or something. It's not moving; we'll just have to watch it until we leave._

 _Are you certain? Leaving it unchecked could-_

 _This is the choice I've made. If I'm wrong, I'll accept the consequences then. But if we want to escape, we'll have to make sure we act decisively. Second-guessing just costs twice the effort to stay in the same spot._

 _Very well._

* * *

Having found little of note in the room they'd been searching (aside from a few stray shotgun shells and a duplicate security card for the main hall), it came time for the moment that both Claire and Lady had been dreading; returning through the hall to continue their search.

There was no scream that came from the broken door this time. And as they rounded the corner, it was hard to say which one of the two wanted to see the aftermath less.

The remains of several Lickers were scattered around the hallway; two were missing their heads entirely, and the rest had had random limbs shredded by the force of the blast. Claire gazed at the tattered shirt around the body in the middle, the only means of distinguishing what had been their friend from the monsters he had protected them from. She noticed a small capsule lying next to it; it'd been the thing Kendo had found in the S.T.A.R.S. office. She crouched down, retrieving it with some reluctance. _Whatever is on here, we wouldn't have found this without you. Goodbye, Kendo. I hope_

A loud slamming noise made Claire jump. She spun around to see Lady removing the bayonet of her rocket launcher from one of the heads of the Licker corpses. Or rather…what HAD been the head. "What is wrong with you?!"

"What he did for us was a noble thing. I'm not blind to that. But the worst insult to his memory would be giving any of these things the chance to make his sacrifice be in vain." Having said that, she walked to the next one, repeating the process without hesitation. "There. Let's go." Lady marched towards the door; Claire muttered something, but she ignored it. As she approached the entrance to the secretary's office, she cast a glance at what was left of Kendo. With an almost unnoticeable sigh, she turned the doorknob, blinking slightly more than usual…

* * *

Back with our gentlemen pair, their backtracking had led them into a kind of operations planning room. Several chairs were lined up in haphazard rows, blackboards were covered in half-finished chalk diagrams and notes, and there were too many cigarette butts scattered around to count. Seeing them ignited the craving in Leon, just as he'd feared. _No. You've kicked that habit, and you're not going back. Not even in this...zombie apocalypse, or whatever it is._ He clenched his teeth, forcing himself to ignore that itch.

…Which was about the time his headache came back. Great.

"You gonna be okay there, pal?" the too-smug voice called to him.

"Peachy," he said in as flippant a tone as he could manage. "Hundred thousand plus in this town, probably all of them zombies or worse, and I'm stuck with a half-demon who punches his way through every problem. Yep; just peachy."

"Oh, good. Nothin' to worry about, then."

If it wouldn't have made his headache worse, he'd have rolled his eyes at that. "Search the room; if there's anything left behind, we could use it." He made his way towards the podium by the blackboards, rummaging through a stack of reports. He could see a blur of red out of the corner of his eye sauntering towards the back room as he happened upon a report that looked promising. It was detailing the R.P.D.'s efforts to stem the tide of zombies, but didn't have anything pertaining to his situation until the last page. _Let's see…"Three additional people killed upon the appearance of an (as of yet) unknown creature." Hmm…"missing skin"…"large claws"…"lance-like tongue". Sounds like our old friend from upstairs. They named it "Licker", huh? Fitting. "Currently developing countermeasures to this threat and"…it just cuts off there. Damn._ He tucked the report into his pockets and decided to check up on Dante, heading to the back room as well. "Found anything?"

"Yep." He gestured to a painting on the wall. As soon as he saw it, Leon felt his skin crawl. The painting was very well done, true, but it was of a nude woman being burnt at the stake; if he didn't know any better, he could have sworn it was a photograph. The title placard read _"A sacrifice to Hell's fire."_ "Tell me, Leon, what's crap like this doing in a police station?"

"I dunno. I'd heard stories about the Chief being an art buff, but this is just…"

Dante nodded. "Well, let's get this over with." He placed his hand over the painting, tapping lightly in several places. With a nod, he reached up and ripped the whole thing off the wall. Behind it was an odd mechanism that was beyond Leon's understanding; the giant red gem in the middle, however, looked familiar. "At least we're getting compensated." The man in red pocketed the gemstone, and, with a look of contempt, kicked the painting into a jumble of tangled chairs. They left the room without a word.

Outside it, Leon was taking them back in the direction of the stairs by the darkroom, saying he wanted to check on the door by the statues again. Something was bothering him about that particular door; it had no keyhole, and yet they'd been locked out of wherever it went. They returned to the area (the center bust still missing its hand), and this time, the door opened easily. "That's strange…you think someone went through here before us?"

His companion seemed to ponder the question. "No seal…but no key…maybe she-?" he mumbled. Finally, Leon could see him come to a conclusion. "Must've been. They probably locked the door behind them to keep from bein' snacked on, and when they doubled back, they unlocked it."

"But if they'd doubled back, why didn't we bump into them?"

He shrugged, but in his mind the connection was easy to make. He'd been taken to a pocket dimension for the Blue Orb fragment, and she must have gone down the stairs while he was occupied. Assuming it was Lady, of course, but who else could it be?

…Besides Nero. Or Kyrie. Or the girl that Leon had mentioned.

 _This is so much simpler when the things I need to protect are behind me and the things I need to kill are ahead of me. Can't we do that for a while?_

"Uh, Dante? Hello?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm here."

"I sure hope so. I'm opening the door now." Both of them filed through, quickly noticing something disconcerting about the next corridor. It was empty.

"The S.T.A.R.S. office," Leon noted with relief. "We should be able to find something useful there."

Dante glanced around them, frowning. This was too easy…WAY too easy. Was it a trap? Or had the one responsible for locking the door cleaned it out for them? "…Yeah."

The two of them entered the office, looking around with interest. Much to their disappointment, however, there were no helpful objects on the desks to be claimed. Leon sighed. "Well, I suppose this place must've been cleaned out already." He turned to ask Dante his opinion, but the other man was no longer at his side. Puzzled, he looked wildly around the room for his wayward partner. It didn't take long, though. The white-haired man was standing in the middle of the desks, looking at them with a sort of sad fondness. Leon quietly left him to it, searching the communications section at the back of the office.

To his relief, two portable radios were sitting in their power cradle, the solid lights assuring him they were fully charged. He clipped them onto his belt, turning to the weapons locker next. He was happy to find the doors swinging open easily, and overjoyed to see a Desert Eagle sitting placidly on one of the shelves. He gave it a once-over, ejecting the magazine and counting the rounds before setting it aside and checking the slide and trigger pull. The weapon was in peak condition, and there was a full magazine just waiting to be reunited with it. _Maybe someone up there likes me after all; better not waste these!_ He slid the clip back in, setting the gun down once more to pull a shoulder holster from inside the locker. _I'm more a fan of hip holsters, strictly speaking, but beggars can't be choosers._ He attached the holster, stowed away his new weapon, and then nodded happily. Things were definitely looking up, especially if he could find more rounds for his new friend.

He turned back to Dante. The man was looking over one desk in particular now. His eyes seemed to glaze over somewhat as they swept the desk, but they came to an abrupt stop once they'd found a blue object perched right on the edge.

"Dante?" Leon asked as the other man picked up the item.

He let out a long sigh, and a few seconds later, set the beret back down. "It's nothing," he said in a toneless voice. "…Nice gun."

"Thanks. A little work and it might pack more punch than yours."

"In your dreams." A flicker of a grin crossed his face before it disappeared into a frown again.

"No, seriously," he prodded, not willing to give up so soon. "Maybe I'll even paint it blue or something. Can't let you have the most interesting guns, after all."

"Hah!" The laugh seemed to surprise the both of them. "Yeah, whatever. And just what would you name it? 'Steel Sapphire'?"

"You know, that's not a bad idea…"

* * *

Our lady duo (that is, a duo of ladies rather than a duo of Ladies) had returned to the second floor of the main hall. Determined to put their new key to use, Claire led them back down the ladder and through the reception room again. The very first door was quickly unlocked by the key (which Claire had dubbed the Spade key, due to the shape of its head).

Inside they found an evidence room crammed full of old reports and documents; unfortunately, there was no confiscated ammo. According to one of the papers Lady shuffled through, they'd been moved to a safe somewhere on the east side of the first floor. She tossed the paper aside, trekking further into the room. There was an object on a high shelf, but she'd never get it on her own. She looked around for a ladder or a set of stairs, but there was none. Not to mention, the ceiling didn't look remotely safe enough to use her bayonet as a tether. With the last of her excuses gone, she had no choice. "Claire. I need your help."

Claire tore her gaze from a locked cabinet to look at her accomplice. "What is it?"

She pointed up towards the shelf. "If I give you a boost, can you get that?" She nodded immediately, if a bit coldly, and Lady knelt down, lifting her up until Claire called out her success. She set the other woman down, looking at their newest item. "A crank?"

"Never know when we might need it, I guess," Claire noted. She threaded it through one of the belt loops of her shorts. It was incredibly awkward to accomplish, but it worked in the end, and better yet didn't restrict her movement. They left, continuing their purposeful trek.

Their next stop was an operations room in the corridor where they'd fought the human-looking thing in the green coat. Apart from the remains of a painting in the back room, there was nothing of interest. To neither of their surprise, their giant foe was not where they'd left him. Disappointed, they pressed onward nonetheless.

Next was the stairs outside the darkroom. They made a quick stop so that Claire could begin developing the film they'd retrieved. It wouldn't be ready for some time, so they left it where it was and continued upstairs…

* * *

The instant they'd left the S.T.A.R.S. office, two things happened that caught Leon's immediate and full attention. The first was that they were surrounded by somewhere between seven and ten zombies in police attire. That was bad, but Leon was less worried about it than the second thing. The second thing that caught his attention was a scream.

A girl's scream.

A _little_ girl's scream.

"Help me!" he heard from the far end of the corridor. His ears just managed to catch the sound of little footsteps before the undead began to close in on him.

"Dante! The right!" Leon yelled. He didn't waste time to see if his teammate had understood him, instead snapping off shots from his handgun at the zombies that were between him and where the scream had come from. "Hang on, we're going to rescue you!" Dante's pistols rang out nearly in time with his; he could only hope they wouldn't be too late.

The last of the undead fell, and he heard Dante's gunfire cease. "Come on!" They ran to the other end of the corridor, and Leon flung the door open. The two of them dashed into the room, and Leon barely had time to register some kind of break room with branching corridors when he heard a gasp from one end of the room.

A little girl had fallen backwards, doing her best to shuffle away from them in pure terror. "N-no! Don't hurt me!" She stumbled to her feet and ran into one of the corridors at top speed.

"Hey! Wait!"

* * *

Lady and Claire went still at the same moment.

"That was a girl's scream," Claire said, shocked.

Rapid gunfire sounded out.

"We've got to help!"

"Wait!" Lady snapped. "We can't get ahead of ourselves again! Check your angles and-"

"I'm not letting anyone else die!" Claire snapped. "Especially not a little girl!" She raced ahead, paying no heed to the protests of her companion.

"Reckless idiot!" Lady snapped, racing after her.

Claire vaulted over the statues, throwing open the door and dashing through the corridor beyond, darting around the fallen forms of zombies. "You'd rather leave a little girl lost in a place like this?!" she shot back. "When her mother could be dead?!"

Her stride didn't slow, but she felt as if she'd been struck in the gut. _Her mother…mother…dead?_

* * *

The girl just managed to duck under his grasp, sliding forwards in a desperate crawl and wiggling through the hole in the bottom of a door before he could alter his course. He would've cursed if he hadn't needed to catch his breath so badly. As he did, however, something glittered from where the young girl had disappeared. He picked it up, examining it; it was a key with some sort of pink gemstone in a diamond shape at the top. Leon tucked the key away, glad he'd at least have something that could help.

"Not bad for a kid," Dante muttered in admiration.

"Even so, we shouldn't just ignore her." Whoever that little girl was, she didn't have a gun or any sort of weapon that he'd seen. And with all the things running around this building already, that didn't bode well for her chances of survival. "I sure hope we can find her again."

* * *

Claire stopped abruptly when the door past the S.T.A.R.S. office was locked. "If this doesn't work, I'll kick it down," she growled as she turned the Spade Key. To her relief, it did work after all. Lady followed her into the room, their guns drawn and their eyes in motion.

A man was trudging towards them. Lady prepared to aim her pistol, but relaxed when she saw that he was flanked by Dante.

"Leon!" Claire called in relief. She ran over, throwing her arms around him.

"Claire-oof! Hah…good to see you too. Glad you made it."

"Friend of yours?" Lady asked, amused.

Claire let him go. "He saved my life when I got to this town. I was hoping he'd be all right." She looked at Dante. "Who's your friend, Leon?"

"Dante. Pleased to meet ya," he said, shaking her hand.

"Wait…you know my brother, don't you?"

Dante looked at Lady for help. "Chris," she explained.

"You bet. He's an all right guy. Why do you ask?" The most fleeting of worried looks crossed his face. "He doin' okay?"

She sighed. "That's what I came here to find out. But it looks like he's long gone. And now we're all stuck here."

"Not to be rude, but this can wait. We _are_ in the middle of a city crawling with zombies, after all," Lady pointed out.

"You're right," Leon agreed. "Claire, have you found any clues on how to escape?"

She went through her pockets. "I've found a few things here and there, but besides the keys I don't know which ones will help. How about you?"

The two of them began filling each other in and going through each other's items. Dante, meanwhile, had made his way over to Lady. "Holdin' up okay?"

"More or less. We lost someone," she said quietly, looking downward. "A man that joined us at a gun shop before we got to the station. And…Brad didn't make it, either."

"…We'll make 'em pay, Lady. We'll get everyone else out that we can, and then we'll torch everything. Bigger than last time; no room for error."

She knew what he was doing, but felt better all the same. "Any injuries?"

"Nope. You?"

"None yet, but I wonder how long that will last." She stifled a yawn. "I'm still worn out from our last little adventure. Any sign of Nero or Kyrie?"

He shook his head. "Not yet, but they had to have come with us. That Mar guy pulled us all away."

"I think you're right. I haven't found any reference to them returning with Jill and the others, and none of the zombies we've come across have been sliced up."

"Same here, other than the work of yours truly. Let's try to get them and get the hell out, before we start slipping up."

She gave him a surprised look. "Well well, Dante…are you actually admitting there's something too difficult for you?"

"According to Leon, this town's got a population somewhere around a hundred K, plus."

"…Holy _shit_ ," she breathed.

"So yeah, a bit more than the mansion. Even if those were all the standard people-eaters…and after what we've seen, there's at least a few nastier ones…"

"I can vouch for that…"

"I don't think I can wipe that many out all in one nonstop go untouched. Give me a couple naps, and no problem, sure, but I can't cut through a whole city in a single night. Not without taking a few bites or scratches."

She nodded. "Right. That's the last thing we need right now."

Claire and Leon had finished their discussion, and began trading items. "Say, Leon, have you seen a little girl running around here?" Claire asked, handing him a box of shotgun shells.

"Yeah, Dante and I just missed her before you got here," he replied, handing her a small stone object that was square and blue. "She crawled through a little hole in that hallway," he said, pointing a thumb behind him and passing her a case of acid grenades.

"Hmm…well, I'm glad that she's resourceful, but it's still too dangerous to let her wander around like that," she said thoughtfully, accepting a box of 9mm rounds from him. "Let's try to look for her, so we can all escape safely."

He nodded. "You got it. Oh, but before I forget…" He pulled two radios from his belt. "I grabbed these from the S.T.A.R.S. office. They're too short-distance to call for help, but they should let us keep in touch in case something comes up." He handed one to Claire. "Now…how should we split up?"

* * *

CHAPTER END

Hello again everyone! I was planning on having this done by the first of February...and then Chinese New Year...and then Valentine's Day...yeah...this one took a little longer than I would've liked, but here it is. As always, please let me know if I've made any errors, be it in proofreading or plot, and I'll fix them right away.

I was wondering...how would you like the groups to be split up? I'm curious to know what you think.

Whatever the case, I love to hear from all of you, whether by review or PM. :-) Stay awesome, and see you next time!


	11. 10: Oriental Woman

"For now, let's stick together," she said. "Strength in numbers, after all."

Leon raised an eyebrow at Claire, but shrugged. "I suppose without duplicates of our items, it'd be more efficient."

"Isn't it gonna be kinda tough, all four of us walking through the hallways of this place?" Dante pointed out.

"Not if we take the lead and you watch our rear," Claire countered.

"Sure. I can watch your rear no problem." He wiggled his eyebrows at her.

Ms. Redfield rolled her eyes, fixing Leon with a look of pity. "And you managed to put up with this for more than five minutes?"

"Somehow," the R.P.D. officer replied.

"You think you've got it rough, try putting up with him for _years_ ," Lady remarked.

"You say that, but who's always hanging around my shop and bugging me?" the man in red countered.

Claire and Leon both ignored the other two as they began to bicker, checking the desk in the other corridor. It was locked, and their keys didn't fit, but about a minute or two of lockpicking from Claire solved that problem easily. "First Dante, now you. Why are all the people I know except me…so good at opening things that aren't theirs?" Leon mumbled.

"My brother's a cop, so I got to learn some of the tricks of the trade," Claire supplied, a sly grin on her face. "But I'd never use them for anything but an emergency. Honest."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry, I won't slap cuffs on you for it. I don't have any handcuffs, anyway."

"Maybe later." She put the lockpicks away and opened the drawer, derailing Leon's train of thought completely when he saw what was inside.

"Is that a gun customization kit?"

"And flame grenades." She pulled the red-capped case out, frowning at their heavy weight. "How am I supposed to carry two of these grenade cases at the same time?"

"Maybe we can each take one? If we each hold a case in one hand and a pistol in the other…Damn, then it's nearly impossible to use them when you need to. Got any duct tape?"

"I wish." She turned to the other two, who were still arguing. "Hey! Any ideas?"

"-and _you_ were the one that blew up the- sorry, what?" Lady asked.

"These grenades. Where do we keep them?"

She blinked, thinking the question over. _Well, the best place would be…_ "Can you fit them in your belt?" She frowned at Claire's pointed glare. "A bandolier, maybe?"

"Do you see one of those around here?"

"Just stuff 'em in your pockets," Dante suggested. "Always works for me."

Claire smiled. "All right Dante! That's a perfect idea." She took hold of the case of incendiary rounds, carried it and the case of acid rounds over to the Devil Hunters, and shoved them into Dante's hands. "Thanks for volunteering."

"What is this, 'Pick on Dante Day' or something?" he grumbled as he stuffed the cases into his coat.

"Oh, why the sour look?" Leon said, grinning. "Isn't it Santa's job to hand out presents at the right time?"

"And _there_ it is. Knew you were saving that one…" He glared at Claire, who had just suppressed a chuckle.

Leon and Claire led the group through the corridor that the desk was in; Leon shook his head when he looked inside the kit. "It's a stock for my pistol that adds a burst function. As if carrying all our things wasn't difficult enough." Heaving a sigh, he closed the desk drawer, and they exited the door at the end of the corridor.

The other side was a large library. So large, in fact, it had two floors and multiple full bookshelves.

"What's a big library like this doing in a police station?"

Leon shrugged at Claire. "Hey, don't look at me. This is my first day. Maybe we'll get lucky and something here might help us. Let's check the books." They spread out; he and Claire took the top floor, while their companions took the bottom floor.

"A whole lotta crap; none of it useful," Dante called out a few minutes later.

Lady replaced the book she'd been inspecting. She'd been hopeful when she saw that it was a company data file on Umbrella, but it turned out to mostly be full of financial tables and medicinal history. "Same here."

"A bunch of stuff on chemistry here," Leon announced from above. "But no instant zombie remover."

"Nor here," Claire sighed. She replaced the book and turned to give up in frustration when something caught her eye, just at the very edge of her vision. She turned her gaze back. A very thick, leather-bound book was sitting slightly apart from the others. It looked pristine, as if it had just been bought at a bookstore days ago.

"Well, I wasn't really expecting anything helpful, honestly," Leon admitted. "Might as well move on."

But how could that be possible, given the state of the town? She picked it up. To her surprise, it was incredibly light.

"Ready to go, Claire?"

How strange; the volume had to be well over a thousand pages, and it felt like she'd picked up a children's picture book.

"Claire? What'd you find?"

She blinked slightly at Leon's voice. Shrugging, she read aloud " 'Livre du Mal Parole'. Is it a book on parole information?"

Lady frowned, something tugging at the back of her mind. Hadn't she heard that name before somewhere?

"No wonder it's so massive," he observed. "Still, I don't think we'll need it. We're a little beyond normal law and order right now."

"Yeah," she muttered, turning her gaze back to the cover of the book. _But why does it look so new?_

A book with "parole" in the title would be expected in a police station, really, but…she'd seen one in another library, hadn't she?

 _Maybe…_

She'd been in a library with Trish, whom she'd taunted about picking up Dante's bad habits because she kept throwing books over her shoulder. The other woman had responded that there was no point in being polite when there was no one around to criticize them.

 _A quick peek couldn't hurt…_

But why would the two of them be in an abandoned library looking through books if…!

"Claire! Don't open-"

The other woman gave a start, the book falling from her hands. As it did, Dante sensed a surge of energy. A split-second later, the cover flew open, and a bloodied, horned red skull rose out of the pages, its bite just missing her hand. Claire hopped backwards to put some distance between herself and whatever it was that she'd seen, but the instant she landed, the boards under her feet gave an ominous groan and collapsed. She reached out in Leon's direction, and he raced for her, even though he was too far away to make it in time.

Before he could even get near where she was falling, however, the book rose into the air, the same bloodied skull snapping at him. He halted in his tracks, only just managing to register that it possessed a single, green eye in the middle of its horned forehead before the book fell into the same hole Claire had. As it did, spiderwebs of demonic energy formed over the hole.

Claire felt pain as she landed on her back, but leapt to her feet to face the threat moving towards her. She drew her pistol. "Get back, Leon!" she called out to her unseen friend. "I'll take it out!"

More information returned to Lady at these words. "Just make sure that you don't-"

 _Bang!_ "DAMN!"

"-do that!" she finished in frustration as she turned to Dante. "Can't you help?"

Dante gritted his teeth. "You know how the seals work! Tell her what you know about that thing!"

"Claire!" Lady called. "Don't shoot it; it reflects bullets!"

"I NOTICED!"

"If you can stab its eye with enough force, you'll kill it!"

As grateful as Claire was for the tip, she couldn't help but think that she was being mocked somehow; every time she so much as got near the floating book, that skull would jump out of the pages and snap at her. Still, she holstered her pistol and drew her knife; if she couldn't make an opening, she'd just have to wait for one.

The book flapped its covers, and then flew at her like some ridiculous parody of a bird. She ran at it, sliding under it and readying her knife. Contrary to her plan, however, what looked like an arm made of red bones swiped at her; throwing caution to the wind, she stabbed at it, managing to carve a gash along the inside of its elbow. Claire rolled away from the book as a loud hiss seemed to come from it; the arm was gone, but blood was dripping from the pages. She saw the skull rise out of the middle of the book, screaming in pain, and she leapt at it. It only seemed to notice her a fraction of a second before her knife was driven up to the hilt in its eye. Its covers and pages flapped madly, but after a few moments, everything went slack, and the whole thing began to dissolve like dust. Claire looked at her knife; it wasn't even stained anymore. Glancing down at her feet, it seemed that all the blood had been replaced with…what were those?

"Claire! Are you okay?" Leon yelled at the glowing web-like substance.

"I'm fine!" she called out. "There's all these red things scattered all over, though…"

Dante let out a sigh of relief. "Good. Can you get out?"

"There's this white web stuff where I fell through. I don't think-"

 _Of course._ "Look for a switch," he interrupted. "Do you see something like that?"

She looked around, and sure enough, there was a large red switch on the wall next to another bright web covering a bookcase. She flipped it; the web didn't disappear, but the bookcase moved away from the wall, and she could just barely see Dante and Lady past the web's strands.

Lady watched the bookcase lock in place, and as it did, the other three bookcases near it had a red light activate on their sides. "Okay, just wait there. We'll try to figure this part out." She went to one of the middle ones, peering at the red light as Leon came down to join them. It seemed to be a switch made of clear plastic and could be flipped left or right.

A rumbling sound came from her left as the far bookcase slid towards hers, stopping just inches away. "Just making 'em even. That tends to work," Dante supplied.

Not left with much choice, Lady flipped the switch to the right, and the bookcase rattled in that direction for a few moments until stopping. With a loud shattering sound, the barrier broke like glass and dissolved away.

Leon strode into the alcove that Claire was in, looking over the area with worry. "I'm sorry I couldn't-"

"It's fine," she assured him. "I picked up the book, after all." A small bronze plate on the wall slid downward, and they looked at the contents that had been revealed. "Another chess piece and stone." He pocketed the first one as she pocketed the second.

"You did pretty well on your own. I guess the sword really was mightier after all."

She smirked. "I got lucky. At least it wasn't something really bad."

"Like what? An evil tax law book?"

"Tautology right there." They both left the area, darting out of the way of Dante as he strode in, ignoring them. Both shared a confused look, then shrugged and returned to Lady. "So what was it that tried to bite my hand off?"

"An object infested with demonic presence," Lady responded.

"A Scientology book?" Leon muttered.

She ignored him. "They possess books, almost always spellbooks, and eat the people who open them."

Leon's smirk was replaced by a look of fury. "And you didn't think it was important to tell us this?!"

"How was I supposed to know we'd find one?!" she snapped back. "They usually only appear in libraries that have a history of demonic blood rituals, so unless this place has been conducting routine sacrifices every few months, it shouldn't have been here in the first place!"

As imposing as the building was, Leon seriously doubted that notion. "But it _was_ here."

"I know. Look…let's just get moving, and we should be fine as long as we take caution near other books." She saw Dante stride back into the room, tucking something that looked like a bottle into his coat pockets. "You ready?"

"Always."

* * *

The young Holy Knight and Order Songstress, meanwhile, had found the doors along the hallway were locked. With not much other option, they retread their steps back to the previous corridor, both of them keeping their eyes trained on the downed form of the green-coated menace until it was physically impossible.

Kyrie led Nero through the blue double doors near the beginning of the hall, and they found themselves in a large office strewn with the remains of zombies, with a divider at the far end. Examining them, they all had fresh, noticeable bullet wounds. "Do you think one of the others was here?" she asked him.

"Hmm…maybe Lady. If it was Dante, these guys would've been in pieces. But it could be someone else alive in this place, too."

Kyrie looked thoughtful. "Why do you think he does this?"

He looked at her, frowning. "Dante? According to him, he-"

"No, not Dante; I mean that man, Mar. Why send us here?"

Nero's eye twitched, and for half a second his frown became a snarl. "Dunno. Maybe it's how he has fun."

"I don't think that's it. He split me apart from the group at the mansion, saying it was to protect me and motivate you. And he admitted that he follows orders from others. He almost seemed…reluctant to bring us to this world."

"Then why bring us here _twice_? And what does he care about orders when he can run to other worlds?" he countered.

"I've been thinking that too." Her hands were absently playing with her necklace. "You don't think we know him from somewhere, do you?"

Nero snorted. "…Sorry. But I think I'd remember someone like that guy."

"Hmm…"

They continued through the office, splitting up to look for any sort of useful clues or objects. Nero turned up nothing, though he'd held out hope when he saw the door of a safe (though his heart sank immediately when he realized it was open). _I wonder if it was opened by whoever was going through here? Or maybe when the undead started taking over…_

"Nero, look!" He turned to her, seeing her proudly holding up a key. "I found it in one of the desks. What doors do you think it goes to?"

He looked over the key, which had a red, heart-shaped gem at the base of the key. "I guess we'll find out." They went to the other side of the divider and saw two doors. "Rock-paper-scissors for the first one we try?"

She shook her head, stepping carefully over a headless body and peering at the lock of the door beyond it. "There's a heart engraved above the lock." Using her newfound key, it was unlocked. With Nero at her side, they went through it to find a corridor that was very distinctly yellow. Shattered windows lined it, and slowly padding towards them from the other side were two dogs that seemed to be missing roughly half the skin on their faces. "Nero?"

He nodded. "Yeah." The Holy Knight strode forward, raising Blue Rose. Both dogs began to sprint at him, growling, but with two shots they both slid to a halt. "…Sorry, guys."

Kyrie followed him past the motionless canine forms, a sense of sadness mixed with exasperation going through her mind. _Even now, I'm just…_ She shook her head to rid those thoughts, and they continued down a set of stairs.

* * *

The others, meanwhile, had exited the library, finding themselves on the second floor balcony once again. At Leon's suggestion, they'd split up to do a brief check for ammunition; Claire and Lady searched the first floor of the main hall and its connecting rooms, and he and Dante returned to the room where the Licker had crashed through the skylight. Aside from a handful of 9mm bullets (he found literally five) scattered across the floor, there was nothing that they'd missed the first time. "So," Leon began, "that woman with a rocket launcher…is she a half-demon too?"

Dante smirked. "Nope. Just as human as you and your friend."

"I'm almost afraid to ask," he said as they began to exit once more, "but does she always carry that many guns?"

"Not always. She didn't have a shotgun before yesterday."

They exited, back into the corridor with several bloodstains. "What does she use them all for?"

"For shooting."

They both slid around the nose of the crashed helicopter. "You know what I mean. Neither of you seem too stressed about this whole situation."

Dante stopped in front of a broken door. "What's with all the questions outta nowhere? Are you saying you want us to leave?"

"No, that's not it. Whether you believe me or not, I am grateful to have someone helping me."

"Sure don't act like it," he muttered. Glancing at the broken door, he kicked it in irritation; the force of the impact shattered the wood into several pieces that littered the floor of the corridor beyond, with only a small piece surrounding the doorknob held in the frame. "…That's a new one."

Leon rolled his eyes. "Let's just get back to the other two." There would be time to continue the conversation later; preferably before some different mutated creature attacked them.

The four met back at the ladder on the first floor. "Find anything?" the R.P.D. officer asked the two.

"A few shotgun shells, but nothing else," Lady reported.

"Hang onto them; my pockets can't carry many more. Take these, too." He handed her the 9mm rounds. "Normally, I'd say the best thing to do would be to stick together. But if all of us travel as a group, we're going to have issues when it comes to combat."

"You got that right," Dante chimed in. "Lady and I need space to move around. So we should probably-"

"-put the two of you together?" Claire interjected. "Sounds good to me."

"…Are you sure?" Leon asked, surprised.

"I'm sure. If they've really know each other for years, they'd be more familiar with each other's fighting styles."

He shrugged, and after briefly double-checking their items (trading radios and a couple keys in the process), they split into their respective groups. "We'll start with the east offices and see what we can find."

"Sounds good. Lady, there's a door upstairs we…opened after splitting up. Wanna check it out?"

There was a very brief pause as she considered, then nodded. "If anything comes up, get in contact."

Leon brought up the radio. "Got it. Keep it set on channel 2." And with that, they went their separate ways.

* * *

Kyrie and Nero had followed the stairs down into a dimly lit stone corridor. Following it around, they came to an intersection with two branching corridors. "Sheesh…who built this place, a minotaur?" Nero grumbled.

"Actually, the minotaur wasn't the one who made the maze," Kyrie said in a whisper. "It was a human inventor that used it to trap the minotaur inside."

"So does that make us minotaurs?"

"You have been called bull-headed…"

Seeing her soft smirk made him smile as well. "Point well made. Well, let's try the right path." It led past a large set of metal doors into a corner, but the two decided to go through the metal doors. The room inside was so dark that only the golden glow of the Devil Bringer gave them light to see. Nero held it in front of Kyrie to make her stop; the sound of ragged breaths were coming from up ahead. He held a finger to his lips and slowly began advancing, drawing his trusty revolver as silently as possible.

 _Bang!_

Which apparently wasn't silent enough, judging from the bullet that bounced off his demonic arm. "Damn!" He ran back to Kyrie, Ascalon's shield appearing over his left arm in a bright flash of light that briefly illuminated the entire room. He only caught a glimpse, but someone or something was hiding behind a metal shelf and firing shots at them. "We're not dangerous!" Whoever had the pistol didn't seem to think so, as they fired twice more. Giving up, he retreated with Kyrie to the doors, never once turning around until the doors had been closed tight. He let out a breath of relief. "Well…I guess we'll just skip that for now." They continued on to the door at the end of the hallway they'd traversed, bypassing a door with a card reader as they did, Nero checking every now and then to make sure they weren't being followed.

Beyond the end door was a large underground parking garage. After taking out another two zombie dogs, he and Kyrie went to the far end of the garage, where a large transport truck was parked near a door. " 'Raccoon Police Department'…" he read aloud, looking at the stenciled letters on its side. " 'In Case Of Emergencey'… 'Emergencey'? 'Dail 9-1-1'?" He reread the writing, sure that he had made some kind of mistake, but no, that was exactly what had been painted on the truck. "…Someone musta been knockin' back a few too many shots that day…"

"I'll go first," Kyrie offered. She opened the door, checking the other side. "It looks safe."

He nodded, following her through. _Just in case, though…_ He reached out with the Devil Bringer, sending it under the rear bumper and grabbing the axle. Backing up into the hallway past the door, he pulled the truck back until it covered the door. With a satisfied nod, he closed it. "That oughta slow 'em down."

* * *

Leon and Claire, in the meantime, had made their way into the east offices. With nothing of value left in it, they proceeded beyond the divider, stepping over the headless body and opening the door to the yellow corridor. There they found two zombie dogs that had been put down with two bullets each. "Did you take care of them?" Claire asked Leon.

"No, we didn't. Look at these wounds, though; exactly two each, and high caliber, if I had to guess." He pulled the radio from his belt. "Leon to Lady. We've come across what's left of some zombie dogs, and it looks like someone else's handiwork."

"An even number of wounds, in sets of two?"

"…Yeah. How did you…?"

"That's good news. It sounds like another friend of ours, by the name of Nero. He's wearing a blue coat, likely traveling with a woman clothed in white. If you see them, mention our names and stay with them until we can all regroup somewhere."

"Copy that. Over." Clipping the radio back on, he and Claire tried the door near the stairs, but with it locked and none of their keys fitting, they had no choice but to take the stairs. Soon enough, they came to the intersection that split into two branches. "Left or right?"

"Right. But one sec." She drew her knife, and after a few moments, she had carved an arrow pointing to the right, with the text "C&L" over it. "Okay, ready." They went into the large metal doors, finding a lit room full of shelves and a power console. One shelf had a map, which Leon took without hesitation. The console, meanwhile, had a series of switches that did…something with the power, adding and subtracting certain increments in various-

"Ugh…I'm starting to envy how easily Dante can smash through problems…" he muttered.

"I'm hurt," Claire said in a tone of mock outrage. "We haven't been together two minutes and you're already sick of me?"

"I'd never get sick of you," he insisted, smiling. "…And even if I did, you've got a grenade launcher, so I'd never say it."

"Well, you may not have Dante's brawn, but at least you've got more brains."

"Ah, so that's why you wanted to be on my team." He chuckled, and then began flipping switches at random out of irritation. He was pleasantly surprised when his third attempt actually seemed to succeed; several extra lights in the room came on, and the console lights lit up with solid green. Grinning, he and Claire left the room, continuing down the hallway. "So tell me…why did you really want to come with me?"

"Don't tell me you wanted to be stuck with Dante?" she said, smirking. "I didn't think you'd be such a glutton for punishment."

"Hey, he may crack one too many bad jokes, but he's all right. Besides, what's wrong with the woman you were with earlier?"

Her smirk faded. "Lady? She's a little too…callous for me."

Leon was tempted to try the door by the lit card reader, but knew it would be a waste without the proper card. "What do you mean by 'callous'?"

"…It's…not exactly easy to talk about right now."

He shrugged, going through the door at the end of the hallway and stepping into a parking garage. "No rush. Hopefully I'm decent company, at least."

"A lot better than being stuck with nothing but zombies."

"Aw, that'll hurt their feelings. And they try so hard to make you feel terrified of your own mortality." He held out his hands, letting his face go slack in a zombie impression. "Urr…" he growled.

"Not funny, Leon…"

"Urr, Claire…"

"Seriously?"

"Urrrrr-"

 _Bang!_

Both of them froze, looking at the door they'd come through. A woman wearing a combination of red dress and combat harness was pointing a gun in their direction, its laser sight just inches from Leon's head. Something about the cold look in her eyes reminded him of Lady…

"Cease fire! We're human!" he yelled.

The laser sight danced briefly over his forehead before the woman slowly lowered the pistol, walking towards them in a very deliberate fashion. "…Sorry about that. With the impression and the uniform, I thought you were another zombie."

"And just who are you?" Claire asked, glaring at the other woman.

She smiled. "Ada Wong. Charmed, I'm sure…"

* * *

CHAPTER END

ENEMY FILE

 **New!** Evil Word

Decades of exposure to demon blood and essence has possessed an abandoned spellbook, forming a low-class creature driven only by hunger.

It lies in wait for human prey while pretending to be a mundane book, feasting on those unfortunate enough to open it. Despite its simple nature, it is talented at inspiring curiosity to draw its prey in.

?

The spellbook it uses to manifest itself is filled with arcane knowledge, including protective spells created to provide immunity against archers. Rely on sword attacks, as firearms are useless against it.

Its true self manifests as a red horned skull with a single eye. This eye is its weak point; the demon knows this, and so it will only appear for brief moments at a time.

?

The possessed book is capable of flight and manifesting skeletal arms to attack its prey. If you succeed in attacking the arms, it will be stunned for a moment and reveal its skull out of reflex, giving you an opportunity to kill it.

While fierce in its drive to kill, it is only an accidental construct with low power. Destroying the eye will shatter its hold on the physical world.

 _6/8_

* * *

And with that, we've got three of RE2's playable characters all in one place! This chapter was a lot of fun to write; I thought I'd reach the end in ten pages...and then fifteen...and finally, at twenty pages, it was finished.

Hope you enjoyed it! Whether you did or not, all feedback is appreciated. Seriously; your reviews are AWESOME. :-)


	12. 11: Pulsating Right Arm

"So…'Ada', what exactly are you doing here?"

She walked right by Claire, glancing casually around the parking lot. "I'm looking for a guy named Ben. He's one of those reporter types; you know, always 'looking for a scoop'."

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that? I'm having a tough time hearing you when you're all the way back in the _thirties_ ," Claire said, scoffing.

The other woman turned, fixing Claire with a piercing gaze. After a few moments, she said "He's supposed to be locked in the cell block, but that truck is blocking the way, and I can't move it on my own. There's no other way in, either." She walked to the back of the truck, motioning to it with her hand. "We'll need to work together to move it. He might be in danger, so we'll need-"

The rest of her words were drowned out as a van on one side of the garage began to shake violently. The back doors rattled as whatever it was inside pounded against them once…twice…three times. Leon just had time to read the words _Umbrella Hazardous Material Disposal_ in blocky letters on the doors before they burst open, and a huge hairy form emerged. All three of them raised their pistols as the beast grabbed its head, howling with rage before charging at them.

* * *

While this was happening, Nero and Kyrie had been exploring the cell block. The first door led them to a kennel, where several dogs with half-rotted skin were snapping and jumping at the doors of their cages; a few of the gates looked like they'd almost been worked free. With a resigned look, Nero raised Blue Rose as Kyrie looked away. It had to be done.

After the dogs had been silenced, they continued on, coming to the cells themselves. In the rows and rows of cells, there were assorted plants and notes, but only one cell actually had its door locked. He motioned for Kyrie to hang back slightly; who knew what might have been locked up when everything started falling apart? He slid in front of the cell door quickly, pointing Blue Rose straight at…

…A sleeping man on a cell cot. Irritated, he tapped the barrel on the bars several times.

"What? Whaddya want, I'm trying to sleep here…" The man rose, dressed in business pants, a business shirt, and a tie (no doubt also business).

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead. You're missing one hell of a party." He holstered the revolver as the man got off the cot.

"Heh. Guess I wasn't on the guest list." He walked near the door, looking at Nero in the dim light. "And just who the heck are you?"

"Just some fool dragged into this hellhole. You're not about to grow extra arms, or spit out rats, or something like that, are you?"

"I'm human last I checked." His eyes drifted down to the glowing Devil Bringer, and he froze. "…But I don't think you are."

"It's a long story. But if you wanna survive to be more than a footnote, you'll come with us."

He shook his head, backing up slowly. "Uh-uh. This place isn't exactly cozy, but it's safe. I'll take it over going with some mutant any day."

"Yeah, make me mad. That's a great idea." He gripped the door with the Devil Bringer. "And if I break your cell open, how safe is it gonna be?"

"…You wouldn't!"

"Wouldn't I?" He twisted his demonic hand to bend one of the bars.

…Or rather, tried to.

Half a second before his hand moved, the light flickered on his right arm and became dim. It should have been easy to bend the bar a little, but suddenly it seemed like the metal was stronger than he was. He tried twice more, but nothing happened, nor did anything happen when he tried using both hands. Frowning, he let go, examining the Devil Bringer. Had he…overstressed it or something? "…Fine. We can do this the hard way. I'll just get the key to this cell and drag you out, then."

The man withdrew a key from his pocket, waving it at Nero. "This key? Sorry, not gonna happen. Not unless you can reach in here and take it."

The Holy Knight tried exactly that. But the familiar ethereal arm did not appear at all. _This has got to be the worst joke I've ever seen._ "Why are you so stubborn?!" he snapped at his arm aloud.

"Look, those walking dead people aren't the only things out there," the man replied, thinking Nero had addressed him. "There's something worse. _Much_ worse."

As if in response, they heard what sounded like an angry, bestial roar. The Devil Bringer throbbed painfully, its light flaring brilliantly for a moment before it dimmed once more. "…The hell?"

"Exactly. And that's why I'm not leavin' this cell. Now get the hell outta here before you lead it right to me."

"You think you can stay down here forever? How are you supposed to get out of this city?"

"I can't fight, and I sure as hell can't outrun half the freaks out there. I've seen things go past this door…that I never want to see again. I'd rather wait for a rescue than be a meal for one of those… _things_."

Nero sighed, shaking his head. He couldn't leave a person to die like this…but what was he supposed to do when his strength seemed to have left him? He felt Kyrie tap his shoulder, and when he turned his head to look at her, she shook her head sadly. "…Have it your way. Just know that we could've saved you." He turned to leave.

"Wait."

Nero stopped. "What now?"

"If you want to escape, you'll need to know where to go."

"And you're telling me this because…?"

"Hey, I'm not a monster. I made _my_ choice, but I can still point survivors in the right direction. If you really wanna take the risk, then listen up. Trying to make it outta town through the city's a death wish. Head to the kennel in the back of the building; there's a manhole that'll take you into the sewers. Just outside this cell is a tool to open it. Once you get in the sewers, take a right at the first two branches, and a left at the last one. That should get you to the waste treatment plant; after that, you're on your own. If you take the underground route, you'll have a shortcut past most of the nasties, but it still won't be easy."

"Yeah, why change things now?" Nero muttered, grabbing the manhole opener from a shelf. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Just get moving before you lure in something horrible."

Shrugging, he followed Kyrie out of the cell block. "Dunno what the hell he's thinking…"

"The others should be able to get him out," she reassured him. "Look; according to one of the notes, these have healing properties." She held up several plants in different colors.

"Nice going!" He smiled at her. "I'm not sure how to use those, exactly, but they should come in handy." They made their way back to the kennel, and Nero used his newly-acquired manhole cover opener to…well…open the manhole cover.

"Were you really going to break that door open?"

He shook his head. "Just wanted to scare him. But it didn't work anyway." He looked over the Devil Bringer again; the glow was now slowly and steadily increasing and decreasing in brightness, to some unknown rhythm.

"…Nero?"

The swordsman nodded, tearing his eyes away from the disobedient appendage. "Sorry, I'm here. So…mind if I go first?"

* * *

Dante and Lady had decided to backtrack on the latter's suggestion, unlocking every door that they could with their keys (according to the map, anyway). …Which, as it turned out, wasn't a lot. The key with the blue spade had served its purpose, and there seemed to be only two doors that their diamond key could unlock. Lady felt exasperated just thinking about (judging by the keys' theme) the heart key; they'd probably have to search everywhere just to find a key that, according to the map's color code, would only be used once.

That said, one of the doors they _could_ unlock was, as it turns out, a door to the evidence room. Which, as expected, was full of more zombies. "I wonder how," Lady said as they brought their foes down one by one, "this city was infected in the first place. After the mansion went up in flames, I didn't think there would be anything left."

"Well, why stop at one secret lab when you can have two?" Dante reasoned. "Or three, or however many they managed to build."

Lady holstered her guns as the last zombie fell. "You don't think…Wesker got away somehow, do you? Taking some samples with to start the whole thing over again, maybe?"

He shrugged. "The blast should've finished him, but I guess I don't know. Maybe we'll find a clue here or something." They sorted through the evidence lockers, Lady turning up a box of shotgun shells. Dante, meanwhile, found a bag full of what looked like arrows (which were probably useless), two rolls of film (also probably useless, but he pocketed them anyway), and another box of shotgun shells (FAR from useless). They both met up as they looked at an evidence locker with a crooked door. Pulling the knife out that he'd retrieved from the mansion, he handed it to Lady. After a few moments of getting the proper leverage, she managed to pry the door open far enough to grab what was inside. "…Maybe it really is Christmas."

Lady looked over the small lump of plastic explosive, nodding. "All we need now is a detonator. Not sure what I'll need it for when I've got you, though."

"Well, everyone likes a good explosion now and then, even if they don't have my charm. Don't ya think?"

She shook her head, smiling. "Sure, why not?" Unlocking the door next to the locker, they found themselves in a place familiar to her. _The west office…This is where we found Marvin. He might still be…_

And he was! They found him slumped against a wall in the overseer's office. Dante made to walk over to him, but Lady held him back. Something just felt wrong…

"You smell that too?" he asked her.

She nodded. "It's stale blood; so thick I can practically see it. But then…"

She knew the verdict even before he gave it. "He's gone. Five seconds before it happens."

"Wait. I want to see how it activates." She ignored his exasperated look and watched as the body of Marvin stumbled to its feet. She could see his face, already lighter from blood loss, begin to shift to a sickly bluish hue.

"Lady…"

Colour fled from his irises and pupils, and they became so faint his entire eyes looked white. His…no, _its_ arms began to reach out for her, its teeth baring with a guttural moan…

"Lady."

She nodded, drawing her pistol. A single shot rang out, and the body of what had been Marvin crumpled to the floor. With a sigh, she moved on to search the desk in the room. To her surprise, there was a pristine detonator sitting right on top of it. She took it, deciding that if they ever needed to set the plastic explosives, they could prepare them when the time came; no WAY was she carrying around a live bomb, especially with Kalina Ann strapped to her back.

The only other thing to note in the office was a collection of cups, party hats, several pairs of disguise glasses (the kind with the fake nose and moustache) and clown noses, and four beverage bottles. It seemed half of the bottles were soda and half were alcohol; barely a half second after Lady took note of this, Dante had swiped one of the latter bottles. "What?" he said when confronted with her questioning glare. "No sense letting it go to waste."

"You're hopeless." She picked up a crumpled memo in the center, unfolding and reading it. _To Leon S. Kennedy; Congratulations on your assignment to the Raccoon City Police Department! We all look forward to having you as a part of our team and promise to take good care of you. Don't you worry; we'll make a town clown out of you yet. Welcome aboard! – From all your fellow clowns at the R.P.D._

Lady stuffed the note into her pocket, her hands shaking. _Don't. Just don't._ But no matter what she told herself, the images of all the zombie officers flashed through her eyes. Just how many lives was Umbrella responsible for destroying?

"Lady?"

"It's nothing," she said softly.

"Could've fooled me."

"Drop it, Dante," she hissed. Suddenly, she felt hands on her shoulders. "Hey, what-?!"

His forehead rested against hers. "Deep breaths, Lady."

She closed her eyes, focusing on the rhythm of her lungs slowly evening out. Lady would never admit it, since his ego was already big enough, but sometimes he really did help. "…Thanks."

After taking a minute to reorient themselves, they returned to the second floor corridor, Dante leading her through the doorway. As she stepped through, she saw chunks of wood strewn all over the floor. Looking back, she saw the doorknob still held securely in place, with a bare minimum of jagged wood around it. She rolled her eyes, smiling, as they continued on to the end of the hallway, where a single door was waiting for them to enter.

The door opened up to, if Lady had to guess, the office belonging to the chief of police. It was decorated with several mounted deer trophies, a few hunting awards, and what looked like a stuffed eagle all gathered around an oak desk, behind which was an intriguing painting.

Upon entering the room, they both saw a blonde girl lying on the desk with a large pool of blood covering the front of her white dress. She was unmistakably dead, but why did she look as if there had been no struggle? Wordlessly, the two nodded to each other, slowly approaching the desk. Dante cast an eye over the chair behind it that had its back turned to them, but he was more concerned with the deceased. Just beneath the bloodstain was a large gash; the wound looked deep, but precise, as if a blade had cut into the girl in a deliberate motion.

Lady opened the girl's eyelids; the eyes were still moist. No doubt this girl had been the one whose scream had doomed Kendo. She closed the body's eyes again, pushing that thought away. If she had that gaping hole in her chest, why did her face look as if she was at peace? "What did this?"

Before Dante could answer, the chair swung around quickly. She and Dante drew their guns in a blur of motion, and the man seated in the chair was pointing a Desert Eagle directly at her. His eyes moved between her and Dante, and he lowered the pistol, giving a weary smile. "I'm terribly sorry about that. My nerves seem to get a bit carried away at the slightest noise anymore; they're conditioned to interpret any sudden sound as another monster. And that deafening crash some time ago certainly didn't help matters."

Lady slowly lowered her own weapon, seeing Dante do the same out of the corner of her eye. "And you are?"

"Police Chief Brian Irons. A shame we couldn't meet under more…pleasant circumstances. And who might you be? Wait," he cut them off preemptively. "I'm sorry, but I think you'll agree that we can't afford to make attachments in a crisis such as this. Best that we simply know each other as fellow survivors for now."

She didn't disagree with any particular thing that he said, exactly, but something seemed…off.

"So…who is she?" Dante asked, pointing to the girl's body with Ebony. _Awfully polite for someone in spitting distance of a fresh corpse. Maybe he's repressing it? Plenty of experience with that…_

"Oh…" He looked down at the body, and Dante caught a glimpse of an odd look in his eye before he adopted an expression of great sorrow. "That's the mayor's daughter. I was tasked with protecting her…but I failed, miserably. Such a horrible shame…" He heaved a sigh. "Just look at her. She was a true beauty; a dazzling smile, a charming demeanor, and skin nothing short of perfection. …But her smile and her spirit are gone forever, and her skin will putrify as she slowly devolves into one of those zombies…just like all the others…"

Speaking of skin, Lady's was starting to crawl. "But there is a way to stop that."

"…Well, yes, in a manner of speaking. I can burn her body, put a bullet into her brain…" He pointed his pistol at the corpse's head. "Or decapitate her completely." He gazed forlornly at the decorations around his desk. "And to think taxidermy used to be my hobby…But no longer."

"Look, pal, we need to get the hell outta here," Dante interjected. "I'm sorry you couldn't save her, but you need to come with us now."

He turned back to look at the Devil Hunter. He was quiet for some time before he spoke again. "…I wish I could. But I couldn't live with myself if I…failed to protect someone else. Please, just leave…I don't have the will to fight any more."

Leaving a human behind in such a crisis didn't sit well with Dante, but it wasn't exactly going to help any of them if Lady did all the fighting while he carried the Chief around everywhere. "Your choice." The Chief pointed wordlessly to a door on the other side of the office from the one they had entered, and they went to it, Dante sparing a backward glance at the motionless Irons before they went through the door.

"That was…weird," he muttered after the door had closed behind him. It was at that point he found himself face to face with a stuffed tiger. "…Nope, that other thing was still weirder. What did you think?" he asked his fellow Devil Hunter.

"Well…I don't know. He was talking about that girl as if she was turning into a zombie, but that wound didn't look anything like a zombie bite. Even if infected blood had got into it somehow, I don't think it would've stayed in with all the blood that would've been spilling out of her. The whole thing just…stank." She saw in her mind's eye the way he had almost leered at the girl's body before putting on a face of mourning, and felt a small shudder run up her back. "Let's just get moving; the further we get from that room, the better."

They moved down the hallway with the stuffed tiger in it, and as they entered the door at the end, they heard soft footsteps heading away from them in the dark room. Dante tapped his chest and pointed a thumb around the large object in the center of the room. Lady waited by the door, and as Dante circled around, a shadowy figure darted into a doorway straight in front of her. She crept slowly over to it, waiting for Dante to link up with her before they both entered it. As she stepped inside, there was a crackle of paper under one of her feet, and a small, terrified gasp from a dark corner of the room.

"I found the lights," Dante whispered to her. "I'll hit 'em in three seconds." She nodded, bracing in expectation, and as she reached three in her head, the lights flared on.

* * *

It's the little things that catch a person's attention. Someone's tone of voice, or a particular wall pattern in a house…ordinary or otherwise miniscule things can be zeroed in on by the mind even when it's busy with other things.

In Claire's case, she noticed that the beast they were fighting had the general profile of a primate, but no tail. With no tail, it was likely not a monkey, and thus probably an ape; a large ape with several missing patches of hair and giant red arteries that towered over them, even with its hunched stature. Sadly, this observation did absolutely nothing to help kill it; which was a shame, because it seemed to have taken particular offense at her. Likely from the precision shot she managed to make that took out its right eye, which wasn't doing its skinless face any extra favors.

She snapped off three more shots, and then dived out of the way as the undead ape swung its meaty fists at her. As she did, she caught a glimpse of something bright red…but had no time to gather more specifics, moving back to avoid another attack.

Leon and Ada, meanwhile, were trying to take the best shots they could, but it was difficult when they had to worry about hitting Claire. "Leon! Distract it somehow!" the lady in red shouted.

He was about to ask for suggestions, and then something came to him. Something crazy, reckless, and highly improbable. But his body was already acting on his half-cooked scheme even as his mind was torn between praying for and doubting his success. He pulled the object out of his pockets, flicked it open, and pulled his thumb down as he hurled it at the undead beast.

 _Somehow_ …none of them could quite figure exactly how, but _somehow_ …it worked. The lighter smacked right into a large patch of the monster's fur, its lit flame kindled as the lighter itself fell to the ground and snapped shut. The beast barely had time to react; a second later, a carpet of fire was spreading over its hairy back. It broke off its pursuit of Claire, howling with pain as it tried to twist around to beat at the flames, with no success. Oddly, its bellows almost sounded like a cow's…

Claire ignored that last bit, however, as she got a better glimpse of the red spot she'd seen earlier. A large red swelling was right in the center of its chest; she only saw it for a brief moment, but she could see it pulsing like a misshapen heart. "The red swelling may be a weak spot! Leon, aim for it!"

Just as she'd finished speaking, the ape, half-mad with pain, lashed out with one of its fists, knocking the wind out of Ada and carrying her to the ground. Its massive hand closed around her waist, lifting her up and preparing to throw her into a police cruiser when a loud gunshot rang out. The monster froze, its grip going slack; Ada landed neatly as the beast fell backwards, letting out a final pained bellow before it went still. Leon lowered his Desert Eagle, letting out a sigh of relief. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, dusting off one of her shoulders. "Thanks for the assist." She nodded at Claire. "And nice observational skills. Are you an officer too?"

"No. But my brother is."

"He must be very proud."

Leon cleared his throat. "Sorry, we haven't had a chance to introduce ourselves. I'm Leon Kennedy. I'm with the R.P.D." Barely a second after the words had left his mouth, he remembered the letters stenciled on his chest protector, closing his eyes and resisting the urge to administer his palm to his own forehead.

For the first time, Claire and Ada were in agreement about something; both stared at those very same letters with amused grins. "…I'm Claire. Claire Redfield," she informed Ada. "I don't suppose you know my brother Chris?"

"Sorry," Ada said, shaking her head. "I'm not very well-acquainted with our boys in blue." She eyed the grenade launcher slung over the other woman's back. "How lucky I met you two; you look like you're loaded for war…"

* * *

As Lady's eyes adjusted, a small form squealed, racing past her. She reached out, grabbing their quarry as Dante did the same, both holding its hands in a soft but firm grip. "Hold up!"

"N-no! Let me _go_!"

"Take it easy!" Lady insisted as she held onto the girl they'd seen before. "Easy! We're not zombies, we're human!" The girl stopped trying to escape, looking at them with scared, watery eyes. Satisfied that she would at least listen to them, the Devil Hunters released her. "It's okay. You're safe with us."

The girl's lip trembled, and then without warning she threw her arms around Dante's midsection, sobbing into his chest. The Devil Hunter looked down at her, and Lady couldn't help smiling slightly as she saw how uncomfortable he was, awkwardly patting the little girl's head. "…Little help here?" he whispered.

She pretended she hadn't heard him, instead getting out her radio.

* * *

"If you think we're well armed, you should see our friends…"

Leon's radio crackled to life, a familiar female voice issuing from it. "Calling Leon and Claire. We've found the girl; she's safe."

"Roger that," Leon's voice responded, relief washing over him. "We've had to deal with some monkey business on our end, but we're okay. Keep her safe, all right?"

"Copy that. Lady out."

* * *

She replaced the radio, and to her amusement, Dante was still patting the girl's head as her sniffles began to subside. "Say something soothing!" she whispered at him.

"Like what?" he hissed back.

"How should I know?! Just say something!"

He gulped, his voice returning to normal volume as he addressed their charge. "Say, uh…do you like…pizza?"

Lady's forehead met her palm in an all-too-familiar expression.

The girl let go of him, rubbing her eyes as she looked up. "…Huh?"

"Pizza. You like pizza?"

"Um…yeah?" There was a pause, and then her stomach rumbled loudly.

"Uh, I don't…have any, actually," he said nervously, "just…making conversation…" He looked over at her. "Lady!"

Now it was her turn to squirm. _Why me?! I'm no good with kids either!_ "Uh…I'm Lady. Who are you?"

"I'm Sherry. Um…is that really your name?" Sherry looked at her curiously.

"Of course it is," Dante said, forcing a chuckle. "She'd know. I'm Dante, by the way."

"Dante? You mean like the poet?"

Lady gave a snort of laughter. "He's…not really the poetic type."

"Hey, I can be poetic!" he insisted. He cleared his throat.

"There once was a woman named Lady,

Who acted like she was never afraid…y,

But-"

"Please stop." She gave Sherry a concerned look. "We've been looking for you for a while. Where are your parents?"

"Well, they both work at the Umbrella Chemical Plant, near the city limits. I haven't seen them for a while, though…"

"The chemical plant? If that's where they work, why are you here?"

"Mom called and told me to go to the police station. She said our house wasn't safe anymore."

"Hmm…well, she was probably right about that. But this place isn't much safer, to be honest. You should stay with us until we can find your parents, okay?" To be honest, she wasn't really holding much hope in either of the girl's parents being alive, let alone both, but she'd stand the best chance traveling with them. Especially with that unhinged police chief they'd left behind.

The girl shook her head vigorously. "There's something bad out there. Something worse than those walking dead people or animals. I saw it! It's bigger than either of you two or anyone else here! And it's coming after ME! I can't let it find me!"

Lady prepared to respond, but they heard a loud, repetitive thumping sound that seemed very familiar. _Him again…_

"It's here!" Sherry yelled, darting out of the room. Lady made to follow her, but a pair of huge fists crashed down, blocking her pursuit.

"Well…if it isn't our old buddy Mr. X," Dante muttered, drawing Hound-B.

"Out of my WAY!" Lady snarled. She drew her own shotgun, and in unison they blasted their foe several times. By the time it fell, however, Sherry was gone. "Dammit…we can't let her just run off on her own like that!"

"We're not gonna catch her now," Dante pointed out as he picked up a box of shotgun shells that had tumbled out of the fallen giant's coat pockets. "She can fit into smaller places than we can. No offense." He stood up, paused, and then gave Mr. X's head a solid kick as an afterthought.

She was still seething at the girl's departure even as they left the round room that had connected the room Sherry was hiding in to the stuffed tiger corridor. How could she face any of them if they weren't able to rescue the girl after all? She felt a pool of guilt forming in her stomach already, and not even her determination could push away an image of Sherry cornered by a horde of zombies, begging for help that wouldn't arrive in time…

"Where's the Chief?"

She blinked, gazing around the office in surprise. That was a very good question; Irons was gone, and so was the body of the mayor's daughter. Worse, it was as if they'd up and vanished; everything else was identical to when they'd left the office…

…Or was it? She walked towards the desk, glancing at the painting behind it. It looked slightly shifted to the left, with a tiny sliver of differently-colored wall visible on the other side.

Searching below the frame, she found a small button the same colour as the wall. Upon pressing it, the painting slid left on its own, revealing an intricately carved engraving detailing a landscape under a bright sun. Three square indentations formed a diagonal line; one was under the engraved ground, one just above it, and the last was in the middle of the carved sun.

Dante peeked over her shoulder, reading the inscription at one of the bottom corners. "Hmm…

'"It sates itself on the blue life-blood of fated men,

paints red the powers' homes with crimson gore.

Black become the sun's beams in the summers that follow,

weathers all treacherous."

When this prophecy has been fulfilled, the gateway of doom shall open downward.' Sheesh, talk about theatrics; you'd think they were talking about the end of the world."

Lady nodded. "Now where could the so-called 'gateway of doom' lead to? It says 'downward'…you think it's just an escape passage to the sewers?"

"I dunno. Maybe that's where Irons went. Wait…a square stone…" He rummaged around in his pockets, frowning. "Here we go!" He showed the blue stone square to Lady.

She looked at the small insignia with interest. "Looks like…people, if I had to guess. It must be this one." She tapped the lowest empty space, and as he inserted the stone square, both of them heard a muted click behind the wall. "Wonder where the other two are?"

"Me too. But we can come back later. We've got a little girl to protect."

Lady gave him a firm nod. The Chief at least had a gun; he could wait until they'd recovered Sherry. She made to leave, but her toe kicked a small metal object across the floor. Lady picked it up, flicking the cap open and closed before shaking it experimentally. _A lighter embossed with the R.P.D. logo, and it's full of fuel._ She pocketed it, drawing a pistol as they prepared to leave the office.

* * *

Kyrie wrinkled her nose so strongly she thought it might shrivel up. For a moment, she almost wished it could; the stench from the sewer water was _horrible_. "I hope this shortcut really is short."

For his part, Nero had smelled worse, but it still wasn't pleasant. "That makes two of us."

"He said this would take us past most of the fighting, right?"

"He said that, yeah. But ten bucks says we don't get twenty steps without bumping into something we'll have to fight."

"No bet." They continued on, both going over the directions in their head. They took a right at the first intersection, and then another right at the next intersection. At the third, however, they happened upon something interesting; there was a raised platform with a headless body sprawled on top of it. The body was clutching something that looked useful…

Nero looked around warily. He couldn't hear, see, or sense anything coming, but with his arm acting up, he wasn't sure if he could trust the last one.

"You think it's a trap?"

"Yeah," he answered her. "But we can't really get around it." Indeed, if they wanted to continue along any path whatsoever, they'd have to climb up and then climb back down, even if they didn't take the (in his opinion) bait. He boosted her up onto the platform, pulling himself up after. He prodded the object with his foot, but nothing happened; nor did anything happen when he touched it with his hand.

"…I'll take it."

He looked at her, surprised. "Are you sure?"

Kyrie nodded. "You're always watching out for me, and helping me through the dangers we face. I want to help, too."

"But-"

"We're already in danger. Both of us." She gave him a determined look. "Even if I don't have any training, I can at least distract our enemies."

He took a deep breath, his mind racing over all the conflicting thoughts. He didn't want her to have to go through what he and the Devil Hunters went through…but there was no sense in leaving her defenseless, especially now. But she might get hurt…but they'd still stick together, so he'd still be able to watch her back. But… _No sense being hypocritical. She made her decision, and it's hers to make; follow through on it._ "Okay. Just make sure to count your shots and check your firing angles."

She smiled warmly at him, gently prying the crossbow from the body's hand. "I won't let you down."

"I know. I have faith in you." He returned the smile.

…The moment was broken, however, as they heard scuttling sounds coming from all around them. Nero drew Blue Rose. "All right…let's do this."

Kyrie gave a grim nod, lifting her weapon to face the approaching monsters.

* * *

CHAPTER END

Happy April Fool's! Hope all of you had a good Easter break; thought I'd start April out strong with a decent-sized chapter for you. Thanks for sticking with me so far, and hope you enjoyed the chapter. See you next time!


	13. 12: Mimesis

"Are you sure about this?"

Ada gave an irritated sigh at Claire's question. "Yes. I can see it through the window. Now hurry up."

"You want it done, don't rush me." She carefully worked the lockpicks on the door; only two more tumblers left. "But going into the morgue while the dead are rising from the grave-"

"It's an autopsy room, not a morgue," Ada insisted. "Either way, it's foolish, I know. But it's a risk we'll have to take if we want to get in the armory. If you don't want extra ammo…"

"I get it. But walking into a trap this blatant is just asking for trouble." With a final click, she turned the lock; success! "You first."

Aside from a slight narrowing of her eyes, Ada made no sign of response as she led them into the room. Bodies were strewn everywhere; some missing their lower torsos, others a limb or two. She held a finger to her lips, motioning them to stand guard at the double doors. As she crept nearer to the red card, she saw that it was clutched in the fist of an unmoving body.

 _CLANG!_

Her heart thumped powerfully in her chest as one of the body storage locker doors fell off mere feet away from her target. She froze, expecting something to jump out at them, but several seconds passed with no sign of any enemies. She crept closer, gently sliding the card through the fingers of the hand. Finally, it was in her possession. She looked back at the hand, noticing that it had longer fingernails than usual, as well as a strange tinge to it; almost as if it was still flush with blood…

Her eyes widened, and she began to retreat rapidly. As she did, a very long tongue shot out from the locker that had lost its door moments earlier. As the Licker within hissed angrily, the body that had been holding the keycard rose up with startling speed. Ada wasn't really into gambling, but even so, at that moment she would have bet quite a lot of money that it was going to get worse than just the Licker and the bloody zombie. Sure enough, the hissing from the first Licker was joined by a second, and then a third. The red undead screamed as it noticed her. _Time to leave!_

She ran for the doors as Leon and Claire threw them open for her. All three backed into the corridor they'd come from, Leon turning the lock as they all shoved the doors closed, seconds before the angry zombie with blood-flushed skin could follow them. They put their weight against the doors as they felt a powerful impact against them. There was another impact, and they could hear shrieks of fury…

And then they stopped, along with the pressure on the doors. Confused, Leon dared to peek through the windows. He presumed one of the Lickers had struck the fast zombie by mistake, because now it was clawing angrily at the blind monster. The other Lickers seemed confused what to do, but as the furious undead managed to rip off a large portion of the other Licker's tongue, they advanced on it. "They're fighting among themselves," he informed the other two.

"Good," Ada remarked. "Let's get to the armory while they're busy."

Neither of them had any arguments. They all raced to the reinforced door; Ada swiped her card hurriedly and they all piled into the room the instant they could. The door behind them closed as a shattering sound came from the autopsy windows, and a severed head was thrown out of one by a very long tongue…

* * *

 _Legs. LOTS of legs._

That was about the only coherent thought going through Kyrie's mind as they struck back against their attackers. The creatures seemed to be spiders as large as (or larger than) they were. In a way, it was lucky that they were so big; nearly every shot Kyrie made hit an enemy. Unfortunately, none of the wounds she'd inflicted had been fatal so far.

Nero had just drawn Red Queen when he felt the Devil Bringer throb; without thinking, he reached for a distant spider. To his relief, the ghostly arm appeared as expected, pulling his enemy in his direction; the arm itself, however, was a translucent gold color. _Is it because I've been using Ascalon?_

He pushed the thought away as the eight-legged monster rolled towards him in a tangle of legs. He dealt an uppercut to the beast to stun it, and then spun it around him in a circle to keep its fellows at bay before slamming it down into another spider that had tried to sneak up on him. Revving up his trusty blade, he rolled to the side as a gout of foul-smelling spit splashed over where he'd been standing, before dashing forward into a spinning slash and pulling the trigger of his sword. The force of it carried his sword around with blinding speed, slicing into another spider and easily cutting the arachnid in two. _There's too many…if it was just me, I could do this all day, but…_ He glanced back at Kyrie.

She seemed to be fending the spiders off okay, but she was quickly running out of arrows since she practically had to turn her enemies to pincushions before they fell. Moreover, she couldn't very well retrieve bolts she'd already shot while the animals were still attacking them. The one consolation was that they seemed to be more interested in attacking him at the moment.

"Nero!"

 _Dammit, why did I have to think that?!_ More were advancing from the sewer tunnels; they were about to be overrun by hordes of the giant eight-legged things. And even if all of them only attacked him, the odds of Kyrie being hit by a splash of that spit that stunk like poison was…

"Run!" he yelled. Even as he said it, he knew it wouldn't help; they were surrounded on all sides. But…a plan began to form in his mind… "Get to the center platform!"

She didn't quite understand what that would do to help, but complied. "I've only got four arrows left!"

He retreated to the center platform as well, revving his sword up. "I'm going to try something; if it works, fire an arrow when I get back!"

"Back from what?"

"You'll know it when you see it!" Nero said as his sword began to glow and shudder from all the stored energy. He removed his hand from the hilt and closed his eyes, concentrating. _Sorry, but this time I need…_

The spiders were almost upon them. Kyrie readied her crossbow, hoping desperately that whatever he was planning would work.

Nero's eyes flew open, glowing red as the Devil Bringer shone blue. He drew Red Queen with his left hand as the ghostly spectre settling over him. **"Piss off!"** He hurled Red Queen forward and pulled the ignition handle in one smooth motion, and it spun rapidly down the corridor in front of him like a flaming buzz-saw. He hunched over, his right arm moving to his left side, and just before Red Queen impacted the first spider, he moved.

Kyrie barely saw a blur of bright blue move past her. When it did, the spiders in the corridor it had moved toward…just froze. She heard a sound like metal meeting metal, and then a sound like a fierce wind, and then Nero had returned.

" **Now!"** he said. She looked where he had come from and saw a translucent blue ball sitting in front of the motionless spiders. She fired an arrow at it, and when it struck, the ball exploded outwards, igniting the hair on the animals as flecks of blue light diced them up within milliseconds; the path was clear. **"Run! I'll be right behind you!"**

 _He can't cut loose with me here,_ she realized. As much as she wanted to protest, there was no time. "Hurry!" she called, scooping up the last three arrows and running as fast as she could down the passageway.

Nero turned to look at the approaching beasts. It was almost a shame they weren't intelligent enough to fear his power. He channeled power into his weapons, and then made a cross slash in one direction. **"Die, scum."** An X-shaped blade of energy cut through the oncoming creatures, but there were still two corridors full of spiders, and they were now mere feet away. Yamato disappeared from his hand as he grabbed one of the creatures, swinging it rapidly around himself with Red Queen held outward. The forceful spin managed to cut through about three spiders, but counting the one he was holding, there were still eight left. And from the way they were holding up their front legs, they were about to spit on him. Of course, it was at that moment that his Devil Trigger ran out.

With only moments to spare, he concentrated, and the sprays of poison met the surface of Ascalon's shield. _I need something to push them back; something forceful!_ Without really understanding what he was doing, he pushed power outward.

A circle of four spectral spears appeared around Nero, spinning like ghostly saw blades. They cut into two spiders that had tried to rush him, and then shot outward with a powerful gust, driving the creatures back a few feet. With Ascalon in one hand and Red Queen in the other, he spun in a rapid circle, knocking his enemies off their feet. As they struggled to right themselves, he charged while swinging his weapons wildly, cutting through the defenseless monsters.

Slightly out of breath as the last of the spiders' legs began to twitch, the Devil Arm vanished as he took steadying breaths. "Phew…" He replaced Red Queen on his back. Not a second later, he drew his revolver as he heard a suspicious noise. A slow, soft, steady clap. "Who's there?"

"Well done," a voice called from the darkness. "I'm impressed."

He frowned. _That's not Kyrie. But then…who…?_ "Show yourself."

"As you wish." A figure appeared from one of the corridors, wearing a hooded black robe. He kept his gun trained on it as it stopped several feet from him. "Hello, Nero."

"…Mar?"

The figure shook its head. "…Do I really sound like that conceited fool?" It removed its hood, long hair falling onto their shoulders. "That would be quite a feat, considering we aren't even the same sex."

"Okay…so who the hell are you, then? And how do you know me?"

"You may call me Gel, if you like."

"…Your name is 'Gal'? Like Lady?"

"No, Gel. Practice it, if you must." She peered at him with a neutral expression, her eyes roving over the golden glow of his Devil Bringer. "That was a Devil Arm, wasn't it? Where did you find it?"

"Why don't you ask your buddy? And you didn't answer my question; how do you know me?"

"If you're referring to him, he is not my friend. Never mind how I know you."

"You're working for the same person he is."

She gave a resigned nod. "…How did you know?"

"Same clothes, showing up outta nowhere, being completely unhelpful…the only difference is the gender."

"There are many differences besides that, I assure you. Whereas he is using you as mere pawns, I actually care for your well-being."

"Aw, my heart melts."

Rolling her eyes, she added, "As proof, I've temporarily frozen time so that your beloved is not left to defend against the undead alone. You see? You can trust me." When he said nothing, she put her hands on her hips. "You require _more_ proof? Very well; ask me anything you wish, and I shall give you the best answer I can."

"Who do you work for?"

Her expression flickered in a brief wince before returning to its neutral state. "…You may ask anything except that."

"Gee, why am I not surprised? The one thing we wanna know most, and your lips are sealed. Convenient."

"Please forgive my limitations. If it helps, anything else you wish to learn, I will tell you."

He thought for a brief moment. _I could ask 'how do we get home' or 'how do you have those powers', but she'd probably spout off some technical bullshit. 'How many of you are there' and 'where is your friend' would be a waste, and so would 'where are you from'. I guess…_ "Why is he doing this?"

"Hmm…now that is an excellent question. To start with, do you understand exactly what he is doing?"

"Dropping us off in different universes."

A smile crossed her face, but it was forced back down. "Amazing; I hadn't expected you to pick up on that. Yes; he sends you not simply to different worlds, but to different universes."

"Well, it wasn't hard to figure out, seeing as how we keep going to Earth."

"Precisely. From what I can understand, he seems to be trying to complete some sort of plan, and has chosen you to be his agents. He is under the delusion that he is accomplishing a noble and heroic goal."

Nero snorted. "If he wants to play hero, he can get off his ass and do it himself."

"Direct action is forbidden for us. You, on the other hand…"

"Why not just tell us what he's planning?"

"He believes that you would take immediate steps to thwart him."

"Smarter than he looks…"

Gel nodded. "Now, if that is all, I must get going. Keep up the good work." She prepared to leave.

"Wait. What's so important about these alternate universes? And why pick us?"

She looked him in the eyes. "A better question might be 'why did he pick these versions of us?' After all…"

"Ah, right." He turned around, holding his arms out mockingly. "All these other worlds, there's gotta be other Neros out there. Well, that's easy enough to solve; the original's always best. Those other me's might be awesome, but nothing tops the real Nero."

There was a soft chuckle from her. "…And what makes you so sure _you're_ the real Nero?"

He spun around with Blue Rose, but the cloaked woman had disappeared. He holstered the pistol, scowling. "…I don't have time for this." He ran in the direction Kyrie had, pushing the woman's nonsense out of his mind.

* * *

Leon had been expecting a huge letdown when they'd entered the armory, but to his surprised relief, there were quite a few goodies for them; six full boxes of 9mm ammunition, a box of .45 caliber bullets (which fit none of their weapons) two boxes packed with shotgun shells, a quiver full of what looked like crossbow darts, a bayonet that looked like it might fit his shotgun (which he immediately tried; to his fortune, it succeeded), and several ammo pouches.

"Now what have we here?" Ada muttered, opening a locker with a broken door. Within the locker was a small machine gun and a side pack that could easily be fitted onto a belt. She took the machine gun for herself, grabbing the pack to hand to Claire before closing the door as best she could. "Almost finished?"

"Only just, actually." Claire stood up, accepting Ada's gift before opening the locker whose handle she'd been picking for the past minute. "…Are those…?"

"Combat vests," confirmed Ada. "I'll leave them for you two."

"If you're sure."

She nodded. "There isn't enough for all of us. Mobility's more my style anyway." She looked over at the R.P.D. officer. "Leon?"

His brow was furrowed in thought. _This is too easy. If the people here were fighting the same things we are, why wouldn't they have handed everything in here out? Something's not right here…It's almost as if we're being prepared for a battle just around the corner…_

"Leon."

He shook himself out of those thoughts. _If that's the case, better suit up while we've got the chance._ He made for the locker, taking the vest that Claire hadn't, and began attaching it. Soon, they had been fully equipped. "Well? How does it look on me?" He crossed his arms, adopting his best "cool" pose.

Claire looked him over, barely keeping her smirk contained. "You look like football pads tried to eat Marty McFly's shirt."

"Oh, hah hah," grumbled Leon, rolling his eyes. "Well, you look…you look…" His mind scrambled for a good comeback as he gazed at her. "…Good. But you look like you missed a couple of straps." _Wow; Grade-A material right there._

"I did? Really?" She turned back and forth, trying to see what she'd missed and causing two or three buckles near the bottom to flail around. "Do you mind?"

"Sure. Just a second." As he went to her, he failed to see Ada's knowing smirk. A few moments later, everything seemed to be in order. "How does it fit?"

"Just my size. Lucky me, huh?"

 _Yeah…"lucky"…_ "Guess so."

"As fun as this is…" began Ada, "now that we're all dressed up, we've got places to be. Shall we?" She walked towards the door. The other two looked at each other, shrugged, and followed her back to the parking lot. This time, there were no angry zombie primates that attacked them as they walked toward the police van. All three of them put their weight into the back of the vehicle, and eventually, they'd revealed the door beyond.

They went through. As much as she was tempted to run ahead of the others, Ada decided to stick with the group; after what they'd gone through earlier, strength in numbers was probably the best course of action.

In short order, they had reached the cells, where a man was lying on a cot inside one of them. She knocked on the cell door. "Is that you, Ben?"

The man gave an irritated groan as he rose. "Can't a guy get some sleep around here?" He looked in their direction. "Are you going to try convincing me to leave, too? Because I'll tell you the same thing; I'm not leavin' this cell."

Leon and Claire exchanged looks while Ada stared at the man. "And who was it that you talked with earlier?"

"Don't tell me you didn't notice a guy with a blue coat and a weird glowing arm go by here."

They all looked between themselves in surprise. "…Why don't you start from the beginning?" Claire suggested.

* * *

CHAPTER END

Ah, May...such a wonderful time of year. The weather gets hotter, the bugs come back, the air gets thick with sneeze-inducing pollen, it's exam time...

Well, here's the chapter, at any rate. Hope you're all doing well!


	14. 13: We Will Never Die

Lady and Dante left the Chief's office, returning to the main hall to continue their exploration. "Say, Lady…" Dante began as they walked.

"What is it? Is something wrong?"

"Not really wrong, but…I've got a question for you."

She rolled her eyes. "This isn't about me eating your pizza that one time, is it?"

"Nah, not this time."

"Good, because you really need to let that-"

"Remember when we first met?"

She stopped, staring at him. "Vaguely. I got into that tower, and you were in my way…you wouldn't stop talking…"

"…And then you shot at me with a rocket…" he reminded her helpfully.

"Ugh…we really don't have time for this."

He held his arms out. "I don't see anything that needs killing here. Gotta pass the time somehow."

"Can't you pass the time some other way?"

"More importantly, why do you keep dodging the question?"

Lady turned her back on him and continued walking. "Does it matter? It did nothing to you; you just smiled and jumped on the thing like a skateboard."

He smiled. "Yeah, true. I remember that part. But why fire it?"

"Because you were a demon," she replied shortly. "I've learned my lesson since then, in case you didn't notice. 'Even a devil may cry'; I _know_ you heard that."

"Nice try, but you didn't know that yet, remember? And if that wasn't enough, right after you didn't hit me with the missile, you tried to run me over…"

"Now _that_ is a lie. I jumped my bike over you with plenty of distance."

"So you DO remember. Then you remember when you shot me in the head? ALSO before you knew I was a demon?"

"Since you remember everything so well, you'll recall I apologized for that one already."

He folded his arms, though the pose didn't quite work since he was still walking. "But why do it? Why try to kill a human you barely knew?"

She stopped, giving a long-suffering sigh. "…I was trying to miss, okay?"

He blinked. "…What?"

"I was trying to miss you with the rocket launcher. I fired backwards, remember? I thought it wouldn't hit anywhere near you."

His eyes widened. "Seriously? That one almost hit me in the nose; you've got some serious luck to pull that one off. Kinda dumb to be doing something that risky."

She snorted. "Oh, YOU'RE the one to lecture me about being reckless, Mister Drop-A-Building-To-Kill-One-Demon."

"Hey, that was only twice in five years, and don't change the subject!"

"Whatever. I'm not nearly as impulsive as when I was, you know, a _teenager_. So can we drop it?"

He shrugged. "Okay, okay. I forgive you."

"Good." Lady hoped very much that would be the end of it, so that she could have at least a full minute of peace and quiet.

…

Ten seconds later…

"Wait a minute! The time you shot me in the head was still intentional!"

"Damn it…"

* * *

After hearing Ben's explanation of who had spoke with him earlier, the group of three retraced their steps. To the confusion of the other two, Ada led them past the kennel entirely, in the direction of the parking lot. "Ada, where are you going?" Leon asked.

"There's a shortcut up ahead that he doesn't know about. It was under construction before the outbreak, so we might be able to shorten the distance between us and our…'friend'."

"How do you know about this shortcut?" asked Claire, an accusing look on her face.

"I found it in the blueprints of this place. Now let's save the rest of our questions for later, or we might lose valuable time."

Claire obliged, though not happily. _And how did you get your hands on those blueprints? Something's off about this woman…_ They returned to the basement corridor, sneaking past the autopsy room as quietly as possible, and continuing on past a set of doors. The next corridor was partly open to the outside, which seemed to make Leon nervous as they traveled it, but nothing eventful had happened when they reached the open manhole at the end.

Claire went down first, scanning the room. It was much like Ada had predicted; corrugated steel and plastic everywhere, with numbers and words marked with spray paint. "Clear!" she called to the others, and they descended to join her. All of them went through a door mere feet from them, finding a small room with a large red box and a typewriter. With a shrug, she unwound the crank handle from her belt loop and dropped it inside the box.

They left again, and the door had barely closed behind them when Claire noticed a small figure not far away. Her eyes widened; it was the girl! "It's you!"

The little girl looked at her. "Lady? Oh!...I'm sorry, you're not her."

Claire shook her head, holstering her pistol. "You're supposed to be with her and Dante. How did you get here?" she asked gently.

She fidgeted, not meeting Claire's eyes. "I sort of…ran away. But I had to! That monster was after me!"

She sighed. "Well, I'm glad you're safe, anyway." _When I get a hold of that irresponsible woman…_ "My name is Claire, and this is Leon and Ada. What's your name?"

"Sherry. Sherry Birkin."

"Nice to meet you, Sherry." She looked at Leon. "Could you hand me the radio, please?" she asked him, her smile fixed and her voice dangerously soft. He nodded, handing it to her silently.

* * *

"Claire to Lady. Come in, Lady."

She withdrew the radio from her belt. "I read you. What is it?"

"We've just found Sherry. In the sewers. Alone." Even through the radio, they could hear her voice thick with sweet venom.

"Ohh, you are in soooo much trouble…" Dante said in a sing-song voice.

"Don't think you get to saddle me with all the blame here," she shot back. Thumbing the radio, she responded "Is she okay?"

"She is. But you don't seem to be anywhere around. Strange, isn't it?"

"She ran off on us while we were under attack. Our bald friend wasn't in the mood to wait politely for us to catch her."

There was a pause. "Fine. But in the future, it would be helpful to hear about that. You know, on these radios that we use to communicate?"

She grimaced. "…Understood. We'll keep you updated sooner. Lady out." She released the talk button, returning the radio to its original place.

"Didn't want to tell her about the doorway of doom puzzle?" asked Dante airily.

She glared at him. "You want to tell her, be my guest."

He held his arms up in a placating manner. "It's cool…we can tell her when we find the last piece. No rush."

"I thought not."

* * *

Claire handed the radio back to Leon. "Sherry, we need to get going, okay? If we stay here, that monster might come after us."

The girl shook her head rapidly. "No! I won't!"

"What's wrong?" Ada asked softly, chuckling. "Don't you trust us?"

Leon cast a sideways glance at her. _Not after that laugh…_

"It's not that," Sherry said. "But we can't leave without my dad. He's over there; I heard him call out my name!" She pointed to a corner of the room, where several boards were topped by a chain-link fence. The fence in question had a hole in it; Claire doubted they'd be able to fit through it without leaving behind all their weapons. "Daddy must be running from the monsters; I have to help him!" And without any further discussion, she scrambled over to the boards, climbing through the hole.

Claire pursued her, reaching out a hand. "Sherry, wait! SHERRY!" But her shoes had disappeared through the gap. "Sherry, wait for us! Leon, boost me up!"

"Boost _me_ up." They both looked at Ada in shock. "I'll help her look for her father; you won't fit through with your weapons and armor. We don't have time to debate; hurry."

Claire looked at Leon, who nodded. She cupped her hands, and Leon set his into them so they could lift Ada up to the fence. She wiggled through, and a few moments later, they heard a thud as she landed. "She's still here," she called over to them.

"Thank goodness," Claire said, letting out a sigh of relief. "Wait there, we'll join you."

"No, you wait here and keep this area secure. We'll see what we can find, and we'll be back in ten minutes."

"But…"

"I'll watch her. Trust me."

That didn't reassure her, exactly, but there wasn't much choice. "Okay. Be careful." She looked down, noticing her hands were still on Leon's. She backed up a step, clearing her throat. "…Sorry."

"It's fine." He leaned against the wall. "Well, got a deck of cards or something?"

* * *

Ada smiled at Sherry. "Let's go look for your father. Stay close, okay?"

The girl nodded, and they walked forward to a small elevator. She pushed the button, and it rose for a minute before stopping at a walkway with several half-rotted dogs padding around.

Ada drew her gun. "Stay behind me." She fired at the closest dog, and the others perked their ears, racing at the two. She managed to get the final dog with her last bullet. "So, you're William Birkin's daughter," she said casually as she removed her clip, feeding bullets into it.

"Uh-huh. Do you work with my dad?"

"…Not exactly." She returned the now-full clip to her pistol, and they continued forward to a door some feet away from the elevator. On the other side was a room that, according to the map on its wall, was the "Cesspool Tank" of the sewage disposal plant. Much to their fortune, it was empty, though a set of steps off to the side led down into it. She saw a panel with several levers that she guessed might be able to raise and lower the water. A platform on the other side of the room had a shelf with something glinting green; it was, however, separated from their platform with a drop straight to the bottom of the empty cesspool. "It looks like there might be a key over there. Any thoughts?"

Sherry looked down over the railing. "I can see some boxes down there. Maybe you could stand on one and lift me up?"

"Worth a try." They walked down the steps to the bottom. The water may have been gone, but the steps were still coated with residue to make them slippery, slowing them down. When they had reached their destination, they both pushed a box under the ledge they were trying to reach. Ada picked up the girl, hoisting her up until she could crawl onto the platform herself.

The glinting object was a key with a green, club-shaped head. She took it and returned to Ada, who helped her back down. "We should bring this back to the others."

"Claire can wait a little longer; let's take some more time to find your father." They returned outside, following the only path they hadn't tried yet. "Just curious, but did you ever hear what he was working on? He might have a cure for this."

She shook her head. "Mom and Dad never talked about their jobs; they said they wanted to be scientists at work and a family at home." Sherry looked at her feet. "…They were scientists a lot."

"I see. But keep your eyes up; we don't want to get surprised, do we?" They went through the door at the end of the path; there was a small room with a metal shutter and an open ventilation cover at the far end, and a few objects on the floor. _A box of shotgun shells and a case of grenades,_ Ada thought, picking them up. _Shame there isn't any ammo for me._ "This should do it. Let's get back to them, okay?"

They returned to the walkway, and Ada drew her pistol once more; the remains of the dogs she'd shot were gone, and three new undead canines were pacing around. Sherry plugged her ears as Ada fired, taking them out. Once they'd been dealt with, she trained her pistol on what looked like a human corpse in the middle of the walkway. _Can't be too careful._ She put a round through its head; it gurgled once and twitched, but was still once more. Stepping over the body, they returned down the elevator.

* * *

"We're back," Ada's voice rang out.

"Sherry? Did you find your dad?" Claire called over to her.

"No…we couldn't find him anywhere. But we did find a few things for you. Here!" A small metal object flew through the hole in the fence, clattering at their feet.

"Think fast; here's another," Ada's voice said.

Leon had only just registered her words when a small cardboard object hit him in the head. "Ow! That was uncalled for."

"Are you okay?" Claire asked worriedly.

"Should be fine. Nothing to-hey!" She was pushing his hair aside, looking at his scalp. "I'm fine!" he insisted. "It'll be a bruise at worst; nothing to get worked up over."

Claire stopped, walking over to the hole. "Watch where you're throwing things!"

"I did say 'think fast'," Ada's amused voice taunted her. "Tell you what: if you trade me a box of handgun shells, I'll hand this case of grenades over as gently as you like."

She complied, Leon hoisting her up so she could drop the box through the gap. Moments later, she saw Sherry rise up to her eye level, holding the case out to her. Claire took it, smiling at the girl. "Thanks. Now, why don't you come back over with us, okay Sherry? It's better if we all stay together." Leon set her down, and the two of them held out their arms to catch her as she crawled back through the fence.

"Thanks for the goodies, Ada," Leon said through the wall.

"My pleasure. But it looks like I won't be able to reach the hole on my own. You three stick together, and I'll meet up with you later." They heard the sound of footsteps walking away.

"What?" he said. "Ada, wait! Ada!"

Sherry gave him a look of sympathy. "At least I listened."

* * *

"Leon to Lady."

She readied her radio. "Lady here. Go ahead."

"We've got a club key for you here, but we're a long way off. Where do you want to meet?"

Dante got next to her. "Before we do that, are you near one of those red boxes?"

"Well…yeah, there's one in a room right next to us. Why?"

"Drop it in there and come back to the station. We'll use it to unlock everything we can in the meantime."

"…What?"

He sighed. "Just do it, okay? The quicker we get outta here, the better."

"Okay…if you say so. Where should we meet?"

"The office with the safe. Hopefully we'll find the heart key soon."

"Roger that. Leon out."

Lady re-clipped her radio, looking at Dante. "Well, looks like we're heading for one of those rooms with boxes. There was one in the secretary's office; let's get moving."

It was only a short trip up the ladder and to the other side of the walkway, and they'd reached the office. With a look between themselves, they opened the box. Sure enough, lying inside was a crank with a square end and the club-headed key. Dante scooped them up, and they were on their way to where the map said their first door was.

Before they got there, however, the final diamond-key door awaited them. Once it was unlocked, they found an interrogation room on the other side. Sitting on the table was what looked like a power cable, and just past the large one-way window were two objects. One was a small, square stone that looked very familiar; this one was colored black. The other was a plug topped with a white rook.

"Okay, first things first," Dante announced. He knelt down, touching Cerberus's rods to the ground. A wall of ice formed over the mirror, solidifying in an instant.

"What was that for?" Lady asked him, stuffing the cord into an empty ammo pouch.

"Give it a few seconds." He walked over and grabbed the stone and plug.

The instant he had, Lady saw the mirror shatter through the ice, and a skinless creature hurled through it…crashing into the ice wall mere inches beyond the mirror, which sent it reeling back, roaring in pain. As much as she hated to admit it, she was impressed. "I can't believe you predicted that."

"Are you kidding? Those Lickers are in love with crashing through glass; always so desperate for attention…"

"Oh, please, you're the biggest attention monger I've ever met."

"Exactly; the last thing we need is another one!"

She actually smiled at that. "…A fair point, and well made." They left the room, continuing to the blue door at the far end. With their new key in hand, they unlocked it, finding themselves in a large press room. Near the door was what looked like a painting of a horse-drawn carriage with a gold cogwheel jammed in where one of its wheels would have been. An inscription under the painting read: _Light the Queen, the King, and the Jack, then the carriage will start running._ They walked to the end of the room, where a table of microphones sat in front of three flame faucets, with a large inoperative boiler at its side. Lady took out the lighter she'd found, carefully returning the boiler to working order.

"Hey there, all you Raccoon…ites!" Dante yelled into a microphone he'd grabbed off the table. "We're the Devil Hunters, and tonight our first song will be…Blood On Fire!" He imitated the roar of an imaginary crowd.

"Having fun?" she asked wryly as she closed the lighter.

"Nah. For a concert hall, this place is kinda dead."

Lady quickly covered her mouth, but it was a split-second too late to stop a laugh from escaping. She removed her hand, clearing her throat. "Well, maybe we'd better…warm up the crowd first?"

He shrugged, setting the mic back down. "Sure, sounds good."

She looked at the faucets; starting from the one closest to the boiler, they were marked '11', '12', and '13'. "Hmm… 'Light the Queen, the King, and the Jack, then the carriage will start running', wasn't it?" Lady wondered out loud.

"Something like that, yeah. The designer must've had some sort of gambling fetish, I swear…like Nero."

"You might be right. Call me crazy-"

"You're crazy." Lady turned to stare at him. "Hey, you walked right into it." She continued staring. "Fine, fine, I'm listening."

" _Anyway_ , I think I might know the solution. You know how cards have a certain value to them that puts them in order?" Dante said nothing, staring at her blankly. "…Well, my point is, of the three face cards, the Jack is the lowest, the Queen is the second-highest, and the King is the highest. So, if I'm right, then it-"

"Then it goes '12, 13, 11', right?"

"Exactly," Lady nodded. "Wait by that gear and see if I'm right."

Dante rolled his eyes, but complied. When he was in place, Lady turned the respective valves. And just before Dante could mumble how he should've ripped the gear out of the wall, it fell out into his waiting palm.

Grinning, Lady made her way past the desk. "Told you s-"

 _CRASH!_

Lady whirled around, seeing Mr. X right behind her. She retreated rapidly, drawing a pistol. "Did that bastard just punch through the wall?!" she shouted, shooting at said bastard.

"Yeah, so?" Dante asked as he fired Ebony and Ivory as well. "If _someone_ wasn't so picky about-"

"Not getting our asses gnawed off?"

"Yeah, being wussies, that's it. If it wasn't for that, I'd do the same thing." Mr. X keeled over, falling flat on the ground. Dante paused, then put three more bullets in his head.

"...And that was necessary."

"Well, you've killed him a couple times already, you tell me!"

"It's a waste of ammunition either way! If he's dead, he's dead, if he's not, what's three more bullets going to do?"

"Oh, spare me…worry about your own ammo. I've got PLENTY, thank you very much."

Their argument continued as they left the room, the door slamming shut behind them. Neither one noticed Mr. X's body twitch.

Not long after, when they were nearing the door to take them out of the corridor...

 _SMASH!_

Mr. X crashed through the wall behind them.

"SWEET MERCIFUL CHRISTOPHER WALKEN!" Lady screamed, firing rapidly in Mr. X's general direction while retreating to the opposite end of the corridor.

Dante rolled his eyes and joined in with his trusty pistols, backing up as well. "Way to keep a cool head, Lady."

She ignored him. "Don't you ever _STAY DOWN_?!" She holstered her pistol and un-slung Kalina Ann. "Dante, get clear!" He flipped over her head and she fired, the missile traveling the length of the hallway and impacting Mr. X. The resulting explosion was enough to make her wince, but it also had enough force to send their opponent flying straight through a boarded-up window. "Get up from that," she challenged. Her cocky smirk turned to a scowl as several crows swooped into the now-open window, cawing angrily.

"Nice one, Lady! That really solves all our problems!" Dante said cheerfully, holstering his twin pistols and pulling Cerberus from his coat.

"I regret nothing," she said as she quickly returned Kalina Ann to her back, drawing her pistol and firing several shots at the angry birds. "I'll trade him for a few birds any day."

Dante raced for the open window, batting aside a few of the avian aggressors before slamming the Devil Arm into the windowsill. A huge block of ice promptly formed, blocking the opening once more. He grinned as birds fell around him. "Always counting on me to fix your-!" Dante broke off abruptly and ducked as a bird dived for his head, quickly drawing Ivory and knocking it out of the air. He put away both firearm and Devil Arm, looking at Lady. "That must've got you ruffled, to miss a shot like that."

She didn't respond, taking a steadying breath. _Keep it together, Lady. Keep it together._

"Lady?"

"I'm fine," she insisted. "Sometimes the temptation to shoot you instead of the enemy just throws me off."

"…If you say so." With a shrug, he continued on, Lady close by.

* * *

Having left behind the remains of the giant spiders, Nero finally rejoined Kyrie at the end of the pathway she'd retreated to. "Hope I didn't keep you waiting too long," he said to her.

She shook her head. "Just in time, actually. I think we're close to the waste treatment plant; maybe we'll have time to catch our breath."

"Let's hope so. Ladies first." She led them up the stairs, and they found themselves in a gray corridor, with a door to their immediate left and another straight ahead. "What do you think?"

"Left first."

"Okay. Let's see what we've won." He opened the door, and they went inside. "Nice!" The room within had a typewriter, a large red box, several of the colored potted plants, and a quiver full of crossbow bolts. Nero frowned. "…Maybe a little too nice. I'm getting some weird vibes here."

Kyrie nodded; the whole thing felt just a little too convenient to her as well. "Do you think we're about to be in another big fight?"

"I wouldn't doubt it. Let's get everything we need before we leave."

She slung the quiver over her back; to her fortune, it wasn't nearly as heavy as she'd worried it would be. "Shall we?"

He nodded. They left the room, taking the only other door. It had a strange lock, but a simple twist was enough to open it. They went inside. It was what looked like a large storage room. "That's weird…this isn't what I expected."

Kyrie looked near the door. _Hazardous Materials Storage and Processing._ "We should be in the right place, I think. He didn't say where to go once we got here, but maybe we should go to the end of the building and start from there."

"Sounds good to me," he agreed. He drew Blue Rose, and they began cautiously making their way through the warehouse. Rows upon rows of sealed metal containers and various crates lined the shelves around them, but there were no zombies or other creatures to be found. Soon enough, they had reached the other side, and there was a heavy freight elevator with large doors that split horizontally rather than vertically. "I really hope that this goes up; we've both probably had enough of the lovely smell here."

She nodded, looking over the elevator controls. She tapped "Elevator Call", and with a loud mechanical clunk, they heard the elevator ascend. Nero spun Blue Rose impatiently, and Kyrie checked her crossbow to make sure it was still fully loaded. The elevator arrived, and with a smile, Kyrie tapped the "Door Open" button. The doors slid open, and her smile faded to a look of terror.

A large, humanoid creature was lying in the elevator. Its skin was a pale grey, with massive veins over its lumpy flesh. The monster stirred, rising up slowly on its legs. On the back of its left hand was a large, bloodshot eyeball, and its legs seemed to have the tattered remains of a uniform on them. It straightened up, and they both backed up slowly. A gas mask covered where its face should have been, and skin seemed to have grown around it, almost like how trees grew around fences. It looked in their direction. _"Dieee…"_ it hissed through its gas mask.

Both of them fired. Nero's bullets hit it in the chest, and Kyrie's arrows stuck into its left shoulder. It took a step toward them, and as soon as Kyrie had reloaded the crossbow, they fired again. It groaned at them, its breath rattling. _"Dieee…"_

"Get some distance!" Nero called. They retreated several steps, retraining their weapons as the mutant slowly advanced on them. He fired several times at the gas mask, but the flesh of the creature's shoulders was so bulky that he ended up hitting that instead. _Eight bullets and it's not even fazed! What's this thing made of?!_

Kyrie, meanwhile, took aim not at where the head would be, but at the eyeball on its left arm. She fired, and to her astonishment, all three bolts managed to hit her target. The creature roared in pain, reeling backwards and clutching its arm. Nero took the opportunity to brace his gun and charge up a shot from the Devil Bringer. The appendage glowed a dim white, and he fired, the bullets piercing where the creature's heart would have been. He holstered the revolver, drawing Red Queen and slashing across the wound while twisting the handle. It gave a rumble, and he pulled the trigger while slashing a second time, cutting a blazing wound across its chest. "Now, Kyrie!" he yelled, leaping backwards.

She shot directly into the wound, the arrows embedding deep into the creature's tissue. It froze for a moment, and then its arms drooped. The monster dropped to its knees, wheezing miserably. _"Cannot…die…"_ It fell over, a final rattle escaping its throat. With a clatter, a small metal object fell from its pockets onto the floor.

Keeping a wary eye on the monster, Nero picked up the object, examining it. Unless he was very much mistaken, it looked like the parts to some kind of gun; specifically the grip, action and trigger of what looked like a pistol. _Well isn't this a strange-looking setup. Missing half the gun, but what the hell, I might be able to strip it for parts._ He stuffed it into his pockets, putting some distance between him and the fallen monster. "Let's get going. If this guy's like the bald one, he's probably not gonna be too happy when he wakes up."

She nodded, and they entered the elevator, taking it downward. _What was that thing? It spoke…was it still alive, or…?_ Something about the whole situation felt wrong.

Just what was happening here?

* * *

CHAPTER END

This one was fun to write! I hope you enjoyed it. :-)

See you next time; you're all awesome!


	15. 14: Resonance of Blood

After leaving the corridor (now decorated with scorch marks and a wall of ice), they consulted their map once more. "Looks like there's just one more door to unlock with that key of ours," Lady noted, tapping the green mark helpfully. "Then we can finally throw it away."

"Well, yeah, or we could keep it," suggested Dante.

She rolled up the map, giving him an impatient look. "Why?"

"Because I just need the Heart Key for the full set."

She rolled her eyes as they walked in the direction of their destination. "This again…if you're collecting trophies, can't you at least stay consistent?"

"Trish said if I brought back any more skulls, we might never get customers again. Besides, all the demons we've come up against have been repeats, so I don't have any new ones to collect."

Lady nodded. "I see. A shame she made you take down the old ones; I liked the way they made the place look."

"Tell me about it. You'd think people would see them and realize that I could handle anything, but…"

"People get so squeamish over things like that, don't they?"

He chuckled. "Yeah, but what can you do? Business is business."

"Dante, wait." She was looking at the map again, her jaw set. "Damn it…how did I not see this before? To get to the last door we can unlock, we need the final key."

"Well…"

"No."

"I'm not gonna break it down!" he said defensively. "I was just gonna say that we'll need to head there anyway to meet with the others; why not see what we can find while we're in the neighborhood?"

Her eyebrows raised. "…You bring up a good point. All right, why not?"

"Always jumpin' to conclusions…"

She decided not to dignify that with a response, saying nothing until they'd reached the office in question. Stepping carefully over the zombie corpses, they found themselves in front of the door that was impeding them.

"It's definitely the door for the Heart Key," Lady said as she examined the lock. "Now what?"

Dante said nothing; instead he reached for the doorknob and gave it a turn. The door swung forward without resistance.

"Hey, I said-!"

"I didn't; it was already unlocked."

She stopped, frowning. "You think Kyrie and Nero have been here before us?"

"Must be; we haven't heard about the last key from Leon." They walked into the hallway, turning left near a set of stairs to find the final Club Key's door, unlocking it and stepping inside. "Now what do we have here?" Dante muttered appreciatively.

"…It's a hand grenade," Lady said flatly.

"Yes, I can see that."

* * *

Only seconds after the door had closed, three people were walking up the stairs near it. Claire, Leon and Sherry were cautiously making their way to the meeting point.

"Do you think that lady will be okay?" Sherry asked Claire.

"…Which one?"

"Ada. Will she be okay on her own?"

Leon sighed. "She'd be better with us, but…"

"Well, you've got us, anyway," reassured Claire, giving her a small smile. "We'll all stick together."

She nodded. "I know. Actually, I was wondering: what do you know about your other two friends? The ones who found me before?"

Claire's smile faltered. "'Friends' is…a strong word."

"We don't know very much," Leon said. "Why do you ask?"

She smiled. "Those big weapons they carry around remind me of superheroes."

"Yeah, straight out of a comic book," Leon muttered, as if to himself.

"Leon?"

He shook his head. "It's nothing. I think we're almost there."

And indeed they were; they'd reached the office with the safe. They stepped inside, but no one was waiting for them, which meant that they were the ones who would have to wait now.

Joy.

* * *

The elevator came to a halt, and the two exited into a pitch-black area. They walked forwards cautiously with the Devil Bringer as their light source, their footsteps echoing off the metal grating beneath them. "Second dark place we've been through down here," Nero whispered. "There better not be another person waiting to shoot at us…"

"Wait, Nero…what's that?" She pointed to a large metal object near them, and Nero held his arm closer to illuminate it. "It looks like a power box. Maybe this might help." She raised the lever on the side of it, and both looked up expectantly.

…Nothing happened.

"Maybe if I shoot it a bunch…"

"Before you do, let's check one more thing." She lowered the lever again and opened the cover. Sure enough, of the many fuses inside, one was missing.

 _I still say shooting it would be more effective._ "There might be a fuse around here somewhere, but where the heck would we-" He stopped suddenly as the Devil Bringer gave a strong pulse that briefly illuminated a large area before dimming. Then it happened again. And then it kept happening. _No sense wasting it!_ "Wait by here to mark the spot; I won't be long."

It took about two minutes of solid searching, during which time he found several bodies, before he found a fuse jammed into the eye of a particularly messy corpse that was missing its ears, eyes, nose and mouth. Something stirred vaguely in his memory, but he couldn't quite place what it was; so, after pulling the object from the dead person's face, he returned to Kyrie. _Damn, I hope this is the right voltage…_ he thought as he inserted it into the box. He closed the cover, and Kyrie threw the lever once more.

This time, they heard a loud whir, and several light bulbs began to slowly illuminate the large room. As they did, the Devil Bringer stopped pulsing and returned to glowing dimly.

Kyrie's mouth dropped open. "Are those all…?"

"Damn…" Nero muttered. He'd come across half a dozen corpses with the lights off, but they had to be surrounded by at least fifty, none of which were much prettier than the one with the fuse in its eye. "Makes you wonder what happened here." As if answering him, his arm throbbed once more. "…We better not stay here to find out." They crossed to the other side of the room, where another elevator was waiting. To their relief, this one took them upwards, stopping to let them out in what looked like a manufacturing area.

Kyrie looked around them, her eyes scanning the various machines and products. "Nero…if I'm not mistaken, it looks like they were making…cages."

They weren't the standard, rectangular-barred ones, but it was no question that the finished objects at the end of the assembly line were cages. They were framed with extremely sturdy steel, and paneled with what looked like a foot of solid glass on four sides. "You think they were trying to catch the zombies and start a zoo or something?"

"That can't be right…this factory must have been here for years, and didn't you say that the people you helped in the mansion had never seen the living dead before?"

Nero tilted his head back and forth as he looked around the abandoned assembly line, trying to make sense of the whole thing. "Then why would they be making cages like this? It's overkill for a human; they'd practically be throwing money away on something like this." The whole thing just didn't add up.

"I wonder if it started as a normal factory and then they converted it to this." But even as she said that, she wondered. _What would make them do something like that?_

They continued through the area, and Nero was starting to feel more on edge the longer they went without encountering resistance. He wasn't spoiling for a fight (not this time), but in his experience, until the job was done you never really could drop your guard.

The next area was Product Shipping, according to a sign on the wall. The back of a few trucks were docked, half-full of the strange cages and other unknown machinery. Crates were scattered everywhere, some looking as if they'd been dropped in a hurry. A few bloodstains marked the floor, but there were no bodies to be found.

Kyrie walked over to a broken down forklift that had had its forks driven into a wall. A notebook was sitting in its seat; she picked it up, reading it curiously.

 _August 1, 1998_

 _Foreman Jack made a big announcement to everyone today; he says that we're going to be getting some specialized contracts from Umbrella soon, so we're changing some of the machinery out. Fine by me; I don't care what those idiots do as long as they keep signing my paychecks._

 _August 4_ _th_ _, 1998_

 _Okay, maybe I do care a little bit. Some of the stuff they want us making now is cages. What the hell? They're a pharmaceutical company, for crying out loud! We've made plenty of odd stuff for them over the years, but what do they want with cages?_

 _August 15_ _th_ _, 1998_

 _Now that we're converted over, I've gotten a look at one of the finished cages. A foot of plexiglass for each side, and solid steel on the top, bottom, and frame; I honestly don't know what the hell they're doing. Are they trying to stop something from getting out, or something getting in?_

 _August 25_ _th_ _, 1998_

 _Big Jack was telling me and Mike a story about the things that Umbrella want the cages for. A friend of his works in the plant of theirs near the city limits, and he says that some freaky shit is going down in the basement. His friend says he saw some weird, giant lizard thing the size of a person shoved in one of those cages, and it was pissed as all get-out. I don't really believe him, but it's made me nervous all the same._

 _September 10_ _th_ _, 1998_

 _Right in the middle of lunch, some kind of crazy man burst into the factory. He said that something was after him and begged us to protect him. Frank tried to chase him out, but in the end we had to call the police. Weirdly enough, the man seemed to calm down when he heard that…_

 _September 15_ _th_ _, 1998_

 _I saw a monster today. It wasn't a big animal, it wasn't someone in a costume, and it sure as hell wasn't a trick of my imagination._

 _No…"monster" is the wrong word. That_ _ **thing**_ _…it was a demon. I know it. I've never been a religious person, exactly, but this thing was undeniably a demon. It was nine feet tall, its skin made it look like it was made out of red blood and white blood, and it had a pitchfork in its hands, with what looked like a flaming scythe blade sticking out of it._

 _It just, I don't know,_ oozed _out of the floor somehow, right in the middle of the afternoon shift. This weird red wall formed over all the exits, and we couldn't get out. It was walking around so slowly, I don't know if it was mocking us or trying to decide who to attack first._

 _It wasn't even a fight. It killed ten people without even trying; Big Jack tried to stop it with his knife, but it just laughed at him and cut him in two. I don't know what made me do it, but I rammed into it with my forklift and pinned it to the wall. It shrieked and then melted back into the floor, and we haven't seen it since. Those walls over the doors still haven't gone down, so we can't leave._

 _We've decided to take cover in the basement power room for the time being. We've called the cops, so they should be on their way, and we've got enough food and water to last us a few days. Personally, I'm not coming up for at least twenty four hours; I can't get the sight of Jack's face as he died out of my mind…_

That was the end of the written material. She handed the notebook to Nero, looking at him with worry. "It says a demon came here, and they decided to hide in the basement."

He looked at her incredulously. "One demon…did all _that_?!" He glanced at his Devil Bringer, but it hadn't reacted yet. "How'd they manage to kill it?"

"It says they didn't. It just vanished."

His eyes narrowed. "Then it's still here somewhere. Let's get moving before-"

A translucent red barrier formed between the shipping and assembly areas, and another materialized over a side door near the docking area.

"…Of course," he snapped, drawing his revolver as Kyrie readied her crossbow.

The demon rose from the ground as if it were made of water. Its growl reverberated through the air, and it clutched its weapon threateningly.

"So you're the one who killed all the workers. You'll pay for that…" Nero snarled.

It held its arms out mockingly, a laugh echoing around them. The laugh was cut short, however, as three crossbow bolts hit it squarely in the face.

Nero took advantage of the creature's shock and pain to hit it with the Devil Bringer. The force of the punch to its gut made its grip slacken slightly, and Nero yanked the pitchfork/scythe hybrid out of its hands, impaling the demon with its own weapon before putting Blue Rose to its face and pulling the trigger. It flew backwards, tumbling in a heap. The ground under it rippled once more, and it sank downward.

A few moments later, the ground close to Nero rippled, and he leapt out of the way. The demon shot out of it into the air, swinging its weapon and launching the flaming scythe blade at him. Holstering his gun, he swung his sword at the projectile while twisting the handle, and the sword gave a mighty rumble as it hit the flying blade, which spun away at an angle.

As the demon landed, Kyrie managed to hit it with another bolt, though the other two missed. It turned to her, hissing, and reared its weapon back to swing at her, the burning blade reappearing. She hurled herself backwards, firing once more as the fiery weapon just missed her. This time, all her arrows missed. "Nero!"

"Oh no you don't!" he roared, reaching out and grabbing his enemy with the ghostly gold arm and reeling it in towards himself. It tumbled forwards, but to his shock it turned this to its advantage and lunged at him with a slash that he barely managed to jump over. He pulled it into the air with him, and this time it couldn't get its bearings.

His Devil Bringer grabbed the demon and his other hand grabbed its weapon; he hurled the beast to the ground with a powerful force, and then threw its weapon straight down to pin it there. It would only hold it a moment, but a moment was all he needed. He pulled the trigger of Red Queen as it pointed straight down, and they both dropped with deadly speed. "DOUBLE DOWN!" yelled Nero as he skewered the demon, flames scorching and distorting its flesh. It writhed angrily for a moment, and then it went still, dissolving into blood.

He returned Red Queen to his back as the blood condensed into small, red crystals that were promptly absorbed by the Devil Bringer. _That's still so weird._ He looked at Kyrie, who had since gotten to her feet. "You okay?"

She nodded, walking over to him and retrieving a few bolts that hadn't been bent or broken in the fight. "I can't believe I missed so many times…"

"You're new to this," he reassured her. "To be honest, I'm surprised you've gotten as many hits as you have." The barriers shattered, and they both looked at the door near the trucks. "Well, onwards, I guess."

Unlike before, this time his Devil Bringer did not grow dim outside of battle; on the contrary, it was just as bright as when the demon had been mere feet away. He frowned, wondering just what was going on in this doomed town.

* * *

CHAPTER END

Well, we're starting to see some fighting again, and just in time! Coming up next chapter, one of the boss fights of RE2. Which one? Well...I'll give you a hint.

 **Next Chapter:** The First Mutation of "G"

R&R, if you like. :-)


	16. 15: The First Mutation of G

After handing the hand grenade over to Lady's hands (handily), Dante explored further in the room they'd unlocked.

"Looks like a room for the people working the graveyard shift," Lady remarked.

The Son of Sparda threw open one of the lockers, pulling out a case of grenades with a yellow lid. "Another one for Claire. Sure would be nice if- ah, _finally_!"

He tossed something over his shoulder at Lady, who caught it effortlessly. "You finally got her a bandolier. She might actually like you now." She kept a straight face for a full second before having a coughing fit that sounded suspiciously like laughter.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. And here I was about to give you a present, too," he said tiredly, stuffing a clip of .50 caliber ammo in his coat before waggling a box cheekily at Lady.

She stopped coughing as she noticed the writing on the side. "Finally some bullets for the revolver." She made to take the box, but her partner pulled it away. "Don't be childish."

"Don't be a bully," he retorted. "And an apology would help."

She let out a long sigh, glaring at him for several moments. Finally, rolling her eyes, she muttered "Sorry."

"And?" he prodded.

"…And may I please have the ammunition?" she asked testily.

" _And…_?"

"And I'll buy you the next five drinks when we're out of here, now can I _please_ have that box?!"

He chucked it over to her, grinning. "I was just waiting for a 'thank you', but sure, that works too."

"Aren't you supposed to be a Devil Hunter?" she grumbled as she loaded five of the bullets into her revolver. "Not an etiquette teacher?"

"I'm a handyman of many talents," he said smugly as he moved past the lockers to check the rest area beyond.

 _Well, he's not wrong…_ She shook her head to expel the traitorous thought, following him. They found a diary entry (which told them nothing they didn't already know, unfortunately) and a man's corpse with the throat and stomach torn out. On that cheerful note, they left, retracing their steps back to the office with the safe.

"What kept you?" Leon asked as they entered the room.

"Got some presents for everyone," Dante said cheerfully. He handed the magnum clip to Leon, and the case of acid grenades to Claire as Lady passed her the bandolier. He also started pulling out the other cases of grenades from the depths of his coat to hand to her, at which point his eyes fell on Sherry. "Uhh…" he said, having forgotten entirely about their young charge. He gulped guiltily. "I, uh…don't…"

"Some Santa you are," Leon muttered, just loud enough for them to hear.

Sherry giggled, and Dante rolled his eyes in exasperation. "I'm not gonna take any crap from a guy who looks like he's wearing red marshmallows. And didn't you use that one already?"

Lady held up a hand to forestall an argument. "We can talk about how much Leon looks like he jumped off the Titanic later."

"Hey!" the R.P.D. officer snapped.

She continued as if she hadn't heard him. "We need a plan of escape. Dante and I found a possible route hidden in Chief Irons' office; to unlock it, we'll need that square stone from you, Claire."

She nodded, handing it over to Lady before sliding the last of the grenades into the bandolier. "We think there might be another route; a person in the holding cells told us about a path through the sewers to the waste disposal plant."

"All right. Before we do anything, though, we need to make sure we haven't missed anything."

"Wasn't there a door in the library we didn't use?" Leon asked.

"Then that's where we'll go first."

And so, the group traveled from the office up to the second floor library. Once inside, they walked up the steps. "…What's keeping you two?"

Leon frowned at Lady, who was several steps ahead of the two. "After what happened last time, maybe we should be careful on these boards." Eventually, though, they made it to the door and went through to a high balcony in the main hall. There was only one way to go, but right in their path was a Licker some distance away.

Claire stepped forward confidently, swinging her launcher around and feeding a flame grenade into it. The Licker's head turned towards the noise, and it slowly started stalking towards her.

 _Thump._

It froze at the sudden noise, but that didn't save it from taking an incendiary round to the face. It writhed in furious pain, but the aggressive flames had boiled its brain in moments, and it fell to the floor, twitching feebly.

Claire wore an eager grin. "I think this day just got a little better."

Lady wore a smirk of her own. Explosives always made things easier. "Well, that's one down." They continued on, Sherry gaping in disgust and terror at the scorched corpse of the creature as they passed.

"A clock tower in a police station?" Dante said in surprise as they entered the door at the far end of the balcony.

"This town's seen a lot of development over the years, apparently," Leon informed him as they all entered.

"Apparently." His eyes caught sight of a square-shaped hole near a bunch of gears. He strode over to it, pulling the crank out of his coat. "If this opens a door with two more cranks, I swear I'm gonna lose it…" He stuck the crank into the hole, turning it in the only direction he could.

As he did, a wooden stairway lowered down, giving them a way to climb up to the old clockworks. After they had…"And here we are…Dante, the gold gear," Lady ordered.

He tossed it to her, and she installed it, pushing a button. Somewhere in the distance, a bell began to toll. It rang once, twice, thrice…it kept ringing until, on the thirteenth toll, a large metal panel on the wall slid to the side, and the distant sound of the bell stopped.

"What've we got here?" Leon said as he took an object from the shelf that had been revealed. It was another one of those chess plugs, this one with a black knight piece.

"Oh, hey, that reminds me," the Devil Hunter muttered, taking the rook piece out of his coat and handing it to Leon. "Let's just hope that's good enough."

Leon nodded, looking down into the dark passage just below the shelf. "It looks like an old dust-"

"Shoot, that should take us right to the basement. I'll go first and catch whoever's coming."

Lady looked around at the assembled group. "Claire and I will double back to the Chief's office."

"What? Why me?"

"Our weapons aren't meant to handle drops," she said, tapping her rocket launcher and pointing to Claire's grenades.

She sighed. It made sense, but that didn't mean she had to like it. "Fine. Sherry, you'll need to come with us, okay?"

"Okay," the girl responded, looking at Leon. "What about you?"

"Something tells me I'll be needing those plugs where we're going. You'll be safe with Claire, I promise."

Dante's sword vanished, replaced by Gilgamesh. He chucked the small black stone over to Lady, and then examined his exit. "All right, then; let's go!" He jumped into the chute, and they heard him sliding down for a few minutes until the noise faded. _"All safe down here,"_ his voice echoed back up at them. _"Tell Leon his life jacket will give him plenty of cushion!"_

He rolled his eyes, un-slinging his shotgun and preparing to follow. "Leon." He turned to look at Claire. "Stay safe."

"You too." And with that, he jumped down as well.

The three returned down the stairs, taking the path back to the Chief's office. He was still nowhere to be found. Feeling somewhat on edge, Lady inserted the other two stone squares into the engraving. With a shudder, what had looked like a stretch of blank wall slid aside, revealing a passageway beyond. A metal elevator stood at the end of it.

"It'll be a tight fit, but we'd better stick together," Claire suggested.

Lady nodded, and the three of them went in. It turned out that even with Kalina Ann on her back, there was enough room for all of them. She tapped the down arrow, and the further they went, the more her unease seemed to grow. Where was the Chief? They couldn't let him run around on his own; whether he needed saving or stopping, they needed to find him soon.

The elevator stopped, and they exited to find themselves in a damp cobblestone passageway, leading to a heavy wooden door flanked by torches. "With a place like this, you'd think he was trying to summon a demon…" Claire muttered.

Lady froze. That body…that unhinged look in his eye…could it be?…

"…Uh, Lady?"

"…Let's hope it doesn't come to that." They went to the door, but when she turned the handle, the door wouldn't budge.

Sherry looked curiously at a stone that seemed to be out of place near the door. She pushed on it, and there was a loud click as a portion of the wall the size of a small table folded outward on a set of hinges. "A secret door?"

"Nice job, Sherry," Claire said as she knelt to look at what had been revealed. It was a relief of a man and a lion; judging from how they looked, and if she remembered her Greek mythology course correctly, it was Heracles and the Nemean lion. " 'One with blood both mortal and eternal poised to deliver the deathblow.'," she read from the bottom.

Lady knelt down to look as well. " 'Both mortal and eternal'…" She frowned. _There's no way that's a coincidence…_

She looked over the picture again, and realized that the man's hand was missing something. "It looks like something goes here."

Sherry looked at the door that had swung outward. There were two small objects in clips; one looked like a stick, and one was an arrow. "Here." She handed them both to Claire.

She looked between them. "Hmm…there's only room for one. Wasn't it…?" She moved to put the arrow in, but stopped. "No, no, that's not right." She pulled it back, inserting the club.

They heard a click from the door, and she nodded, stuffing the small arrow into a pocket just in case. "Well, we should be ready now. Sherry, you wait out here, okay?"

"But…"

"We need to make sure it's safe for you first. Don't worry, we won't take long." She and Lady stood up, and with a resigned nod, they went through the door.

* * *

Leon found himself falling not to the ground, but into a pair of arms. Arms covered in metal, attached to a person wearing a red coat. "Don't read too much into this," he grumbled.

"Ah, don't flatter yourself, you're not my type," Dante said, dropping him.

It was only his reflexes kicking in immediately that helped him to land on his feet. "What _is_ your type, exactly? Nice, rude, tall, short, polite, carrying heavy ordnance…"

"Definitely that last one; the rest is flexible."

"NOOOO!" a voice rang out from ahead.

"That's Ben!" Leon yelled. He ran to the cells, Dante following close behind. Once they'd gotten there, they found the cell door torn open, and Ben slumped outside. He was in bad shape; there was blood running down his face, and the way he was breathing, something had broken several of his ribs. "Ben! It's okay, don't talk. Save your energy and we'll get some help for you."

"Don't make me laugh…" the man gasped. "I'm history, and we know it."

"C'mon, don't talk like that!"

"It's not supposed to be like this…I was supposed to bring down Umbrella…" His hand shook as he handed them several folded papers. "What a story…the Chief a co-conspirator…backroom deals…it was gonna get me a Pulitzer…" He coughed, blood dirtying his already ruined shirt. "Get those scum, would you? Make them pay."

"Ben…"

He gave a weak grin. "When you do…don't forget to mention me. You at least…owe me…" He gave another cough, and then breathed his last.

Leon clenched his fist. "Ben…I'm sorry." He handed the papers to Dante, and they both gave him a moment of silence.

The moment was broken as they heard the door behind them open. He turned, his eyes widening. "Ada! I'm glad you're okay. Where have you been?"

She looked down at Ben's body. "I've been looking for any clue of John I can find. I was hoping there might be something back here that Ben would know about, but…" She turned around, looking at Dante briefly before walking back to the door.

"Where are you going?"

"The chemical plant. I have a feeling I'll find his trail there." And then she was off again.

"Hey, wait!" He glared at Dante. "You could've stopped her, you know!"

"Oh yeah, grab a woman on a mission with a machine gun. Do I really look that dumb?"

Leon didn't bother answering as they went to the kennel, going down into the manhole and into the sewers. "Let's see…" He stepped through Ben's instructions in his mind, remembering to turn at the correct intersection. "Okay, here we are."

It was a small corridor with only two doors. The immediate one on their left was a room with a large box and typewriter, but nothing else was inside it. The other door was made of heavy steel and had a strange, twist-type lock to open it. They made their way inside, to a room with a narrow metal walkway stretching between several odd machines, over a drop so far that nothing but darkness could be seen below. But Ada was nowhere in sight…

* * *

A demented laugh greeted them. "So, you made it this far after all…not bad, girl."

"It's Lady!" she snapped, glaring at Chief Irons even as his Desert Eagle was pointed directly at her. "I've earned that much, at least. Now get it together and let's leave."

He glared back over the corpse of the mayor's daughter on a table in the center. "No! No one's leaving my town. EVERYONE'S going to die!"

"Let's all calm down, okay?" Claire suggested, her voice even (no mean feat, given that she was just feet from the body). "Why don't you tell us what happened?"

"Shut up! You stupid little girl…you couldn't possibly understand what's happened! Umbrella has destroyed my _beautiful_ town…those heartless monsters…"

"Then how is killing everyone going to solve anything?" Lady asked. "Neither of us are infected, and we can still get you out of here." And she would; someone had to put the screws to Umbrella, and the more voices against them the better.

"You _will_ be. Sooner or later, _everyone_ will be one of those rotting corpses! Damn Umbrella…how could they do this?! And after everything I've DONE for them!"

Lady's eyes narrowed. "You scum…you've been taking dirty money, haven't you? And you call yourself the Chief of Police."

"Don't you lecture me!" he snarled. "You should know your place, you little…"

"My place is dragging your worthless self out of here, in chains if I have to!"

"What do you know about Umbrella?" Claire asked, silently begging Lady to stop antagonizing the madman. "What's this new virus they've been developing?"

"…Well, if you must know, it's the G-Virus. A formula that can turn subjects into super-weapons, slated to be superior to the t-Virus in every way! And the genius behind it all…is one Doctor William Birkin."

"Birkin?" Lady said, surprised. That name…

"I'm sure you've already seen his little girl running around…Sherry, wasn't it?"

Claire gasped.

"Yes, I thought so. Though no doubt that brute tearing my precinct apart has made short work of her by now. It must be another by-product of the G-Virus research, sent by Umbrella to cover its tracks." He slowly advanced on them. "But I won't die alone. I'm taking you with me!"

"Like hell you are," Lady growled. She readied herself to try for a quick-draw, but suddenly Chief Irons dropped his gun, clutching his chest. "A heart attack? You've gotta be kidding me…"

"My chest…my chest! It's…AAAAAUUUGHHHH!" With a violent motion, a wound formed in a diagonal line across his chest, moments later tearing forcefully apart. A writhing creature wiggled its way out of the wound, hissing at them before slithering towards a ladder leading down.

"I don't think so!" Lady snapped, drawing a pistol and pulling the trigger. _Click, click._ "Dammit! Claire!"

Claire was already in motion, firing off five shots at the creature. Unfortunately, it was so small that she couldn't get a proper aim, and it had reached its escape in moments.

A second later, Lady had finished reloading. "We need to get after that thing before it finds someone else."

"Let's check the room first. We can't rush blindly," Claire countered.

Lady sighed, nodding. "Just a moment." She strode over to Irons, checking him over. There was no point looking for a pulse; it looked like his heart and lungs had been crushed by whatever had burst out of him. Just in case, though…

Claire heard the gunshot and looked over, seeing Lady remove her pistol from the man's head. "…Merciful for someone who was going to kill us."

She shook her head. "Practical. We can't risk leaving the brain intact after that thing infected him."

Claire shook her head, picking up a case of acid grenades hidden under a table. _This room looks like it's been in use for some time…_ "Did he kill that girl?"

"We can't prove it, but I think so. And judging from this room, I don't think she was the first."

She gave the room one final look around. Jars of floating organs, skulls, bonesaws…perhaps they'd looked long enough. "That should be good. Let's go get that thing." They both descended the ladder until they reached a metal walkway.

It stretched over a massive cavern, the far end of which seemed to have machinery of some kind. In the middle of the walkway was…well, Claire presumed it was the thing that had torn through Irons, but it was about the size of a small dog now, and it was twitching. As she put an acid round into her grenade launcher, she saw it shudder and… _grow_?! It dragged itself in her direction as it grew into something the size of a car, with a hissing mouth and clawed arms. It shuddered, and what looked like misshapen roaches spilled from its mouth.

She fired at it, the acid round splashing over it. She could smell it even at this distance, but the creature was still dragging itself in their direction. Lady began firing as she chambered another acid grenade and hit it again. As she reloaded, she could see Lady taking aim for the…could you really call them roaches? They were far too big…

She hit it with round after round, but by the fifth one it was still advancing sluggishly. She loaded one more, but before she pulled the trigger, she saw that it had finally stopped moving. It hunched over, and with a groan it fell still, a pool of green blood forming around it.

She returned her launcher to its carrying position. "Let's get Sherry and get through here quickly; I think I need to throw up."

"Well, don't do it on me."

* * *

 _CLICK!_

Dante whirled around as the door closed behind him. "The hell?" He tried twisting the funky electronic lock. _No go._ "Yo, Leon. I don't think we're going back that way."

"I think w-we've got bigger problems," Leon's wavering voice called back.

Dante blinked, turning. "What's up with y-" He paused as he saw the thing in front of Leon. It seemed to be mostly human, with a slightly larger and discolored chest, and a huge right arm made of blackened tissue.

"I don't think this one's going to be as easy."

Dante scoffed, twirling Ebony and Ivory as he strode forward. "So it's a beefier, uglier zombie. Just like our bald buddy." The pistols stopped spinning, and he crossed them over each other as he pointed them at the monster. "Later."

 _BANG!_

Dante's left eyebrow raised as the bullets went straight through the creature's head and into the wall behind it, the blood spatter the only evidence of their travel. _This thing…it heals almost like…_ _ **her**_ _! From the mansion!_ "…Interesting."

The thing stumbled over to the rail on its right, resting against it for a few seconds. Then it gripped one of the pipes and, with a grunt, ripped it free. Its right arm grew slightly, a giant eye forming between the elbow and shoulder. "RRRROOOWARRR!" it bellowed.

Dante waved Ivory in front of his face. "Whew…hello to you too, Stinky!" He returned it to cross over Ebony. "Open wide, big guy…I got a lead breath mint with your name on it!" He poured a dozen bullets into the thing's head, but they didn't seem to have much effect; nor did the half-dozen Leon contributed. Shrugging, Dante twirled his pistols as he holstered them. "If bullets don't work…" He cracked his knuckles. "…then you gotta get in close!" He ran at the monster, leaping over its swipe at him with the pipe as he landed a solid left haymaker straight to its jaw.

Dante's momentum carried him past the malformed beast, landing in a fighting stance. "Leon! We can take this guy; don't waste your ammo."

Both Leon and the beast glared at Dante. "What, you want me to _punch_ it?!" Leon exclaimed.

"Might as well. Lesson four, kid; you can't always trust your guns. Sometimes you gotta kick ass the old-fashioned way!" He beckoned to the abomination. "C'mon, ugly; let's dance!"

The monster roared, bringing the pipe down to smash Dante. He hopped backwards, letting it crash into the walkway with a loud metallic _CLANG!_ He stepped onto the pipe with one foot, then spun around in a back kick, planting his other foot squarely on his opponent's chin. As it stumbled back, the Son of Sparda leapt up, spinning into a crushing roundhouse kick. He landed with an eager grin. "No dice, kid? All right; more fun for me!"

Leon, as if to spite him, fired two more rounds into the beast's chest. Then, with a sigh that turned quickly to a snarl, he raced at the mutant. He leapt through the air, kicking into it with both feet. Unfortunately, he failed to react to his loss of forward movement, and fell to the ground as his target staggered back further.

"Sheesh, glad Nero's not here to see you stealin' his moves. Not bad, though."

Leon ignored him, drawing his shotgun as he got up and blasted the creature point-blank. Then he blasted it again. And then, as he'd been expecting, it got back up. He retreated, but the beast seemed to be focusing on Dante. _No sense wasting a clean shot!_ Not knowing quite what it would accomplish, but reasoning that it would hurt a lot, he used the last shell in the shotgun to blast the mutant in the shoulder, directly in the bloodshot eyeball growing out of it.

He was not disappointed. The monster roared with pain; it swung the pipe at him in anger. He rolled under the strike; unfortunately, its left hand grabbed his shirt collar, lifting him into the air as his shotgun clattered to the walkway floor. "Dante! Shoot its feet!" he yelled. He drew his pistol, pressing it into the creature's elbow and firing as fast as his finger could pull the trigger.

Dante, meanwhile, did his part and fired Ebony & Ivory into the beast's feet several times. "Dance, Lumpy!"

It released Leon (Dante ceasing his shots temporarily), who landed neatly before diving for his shotgun. He scooped it up as he rolled away from the creature, and Dante resumed his barrage. The monster, however, seemed to slump somewhat. _Are we winning?_ , he thought desperately. It trudged almost sleepily towards the railing again. Dante stopped firing, tilting his head curiously. The mutant slumped against the railing, breathing heavily.

At which point Leon ran up behind it, planting his foot squarely in the monster's behind. It toppled forward over the railing, roaring in surprise as it fell into darkness.

Dante smirked. "Nice one! Always good to see someone kicking ass, but you don't usually see it taken so literally. Good for you."

Leon gritted his teeth, hopping slightly and holding his pained appendage. "Glad you liked it; I think I broke my foot…"

* * *

CHAPTER END

Finally, bosses! The music for the G fights were so good; that sort of Jaws-esque startup for the G1 fight was just perfect. I REALLY hope they don't fiddle too much with the soundtrack for the remake; it was part of the magic.

Anyway, hope you're all doing well. Thanks for reading, and if you like, let me know your opinions/advice/thoughts in a review! See you next time!


	17. 16: Above the Blood Pool

Claire and Lady had returned to Sherry, who was still waiting patiently by the door leading to Irons' personal…dungeon, for lack of a better term. "Welcome back!" she greeted them. "Are you okay?"

They both nodded. "We're just fine. Everything should be safe now," Claire told her. Sherry smiled, hugging her around the waist. She patted the girl's head distractedly, her mind elsewhere. _To think the man responsible for things like that monster is actually her father…_

"Claire? What's wrong?"

She gently pushed Sherry away. "It's nothing. We've found a way through, but there are some things on the way you shouldn't look at."

"I'm twelve; I'm not a child!" she insisted.

"That's got nothing to do with it," Lady said calmly. "They're things that no one should have to see, regardless of age. But since we've seen them already, we'd rather you didn't."

Claire looked at her, surprised. "…Exactly. We'll be close, so promise you'll keep your eyes shut until we get through, okay?"

In the end, Sherry agreed, though she wasn't very happy about it. She held their hands as they led her through the room with Irons' remains and slowly down the ladder. They stepped carefully around the remains of the monster that had burst from the Chief's chest, and were leading their young friend towards the other end when they heard her gasp.

"Did you hear that?" she whispered, her eyes flying open. They then widened in shock as she saw the monster they'd fought.

Lady hurriedly stepped between her and the revolting sight. "We didn't hear anything. What did it sound like to you?"

"I…I thought it was a-a clicking noise."

Lady looked at Claire, who shrugged. "We'll keep vigilant. But let's not linger too long." They led her over to the machinery, and Claire pressed the only button she could find. With a loud metallic rattling, a ladder descended to the walkway. "It looks like the only way to go." She went up the ladder first, followed by Sherry, and Lady went last.

As they climbed, Sherry tilted her head, listening for the strange sound from earlier. _Was it a bug I heard? Or…was it something else?_ This time, however, the only thing to be heard was the metallic echo from their steps as they climbed, and by the time they'd reached the top, she hadn't heard any more strange sounds…

* * *

Kyrie and Nero had found themselves in an area of the factory that seemed to be under construction. There were various canisters, scaffolding, and boards strewn everywhere. "They must have been expanding before the attack," Kyrie noted.

"Makin' more cages, you think?" Nero wondered aloud as they walked further into the section. He looked around them curiously. Much like the room they'd just left, everything had obviously been dropped in a hurry. There was a door that looked like it lead to outside the factory, but given the loud groans of the undead coming from behind it, opening it probably wasn't going to be their best course of action. Still, that didn't leave them a lot of options. He looked up, the full moon visible through the half-finished roof. "You think we should head to the rooftops, or-"

 _SMASH!_

They whirled around to find the door they'd come through crumpled clean off its hinges. A familiar figure was trudging towards them; one with grayish skin and a gas mask over where its face should have been. Unlike last time, however, it had an additional yellow eye in the middle of its forehead (poking through a missing chunk of the mask), and its hands had what looked like claws growing out of the wrists.

"You again?" Nero growled as he drew Blue Rose.

" _Die…"_ it groaned.

"Take your own advice, jackass!" he snapped. He fired a shot at the creature, but the bullets seemed to ricochet off its chest. He stared at it in surprise; its skin looked somewhat misshapen and discolored around the chest, as if its ribs were a giant shell. "…That's a handy trick. Whatever kills you makes you stronger." He revved up Red Queen. "Well, I've got a few tricks of my own. Try THIS one!" He raced at the creature, slicing at it. While the force of the strike itself was deflected by the bone formation, the flames of Red Queen scorched its skin. "Hah, knew it! Kyrie, try to hit it anywhere but the chest!" He jumped backwards, and her shots hit the beast in its shoulder.

The creature stumbled backwards. It roared at them, and picked up something from the ground; it was a metal girder. _"Die!"_ it roared, swiping at Nero. He batted the improvised weapon away with Red Queen once, then twice. He dodged backwards as the monster brought the girder overhead and slammed it into the ground, hard enough to bend it. Wasting no time, he shot forward again, putting enough force into a spinning slash that it should have taken the monster's left arm off completely. It didn't quite, but the way the appendage dangled, it was barely hanging on by a few cords of muscle and skin, and the wound was soon hit by a pair of crossbow bolts.

The mutant hurled the girder at Nero, who managed to duck under it as it flew barely an inch over him. "Oh, please; watch and learn!" He returned his sword to his back, grabbed a canister from the floor with the Devil Bringer, and hurled it into the creature's stomach. As soon as it hit, the enemy clutched at the object, its left arm starting to twitch as the wound healed before their eyes. "Let's see if you can fly, pal!" He fired a shot at the valve of the canister; it snapped off, and the pressure sent the creature hurtling into the far wall. _Let's hope this works!_ He braced the revolver with both hands, funneling as much power into the next shot as he dared. "Kyrie! Get behind me!" She did, and he fired, the bullets hitting both the bottom part of the tank and the creature's gut. He didn't have much time, hurriedly stuffing Blue Rose into his coat and summoning Ascalon into his hands to protect them…

 _BOOM!_

The energy he'd put into the bullets exploded, setting off the canister in the creature's arms. Several pieces of metal hit Ascalon's shield with great force, but his guard held, and after a few moments he glanced over the top of it. The creature was writhing angrily as flames raged around it, but as Nero watched, it finally slumped to the ground, the fire dying seconds later.

" _Cannot…die…"_ it hissed painfully, and then went still. Something tumbled out of its pockets once more. Picking it up, Nero saw that it looked like another part of a gun; this time there were four barrels put together, and some type of needle inside each one. _Hmm…wonder if it goes with the other thing that it dropped? Guess it would make sense…_ He stowed it away, looking around them. "Now how do we get outta this place?"

"Nero, over there." Kyrie was pointing to a large, circular grate that had come off the wall, revealing a dark tunnel beyond. "It must have been knocked loose from the explosion."

"Back to the sewers, huh?"

 _There seems to be no other path, Sir Nero,_ Ascalon informed him. _If the tunnel does indeed lead to the sewers, you should lead, so that your beloved may be forewarned about unforeseen dangers._

 _Thanks for the tip. Also, it's just Nero._

 _Very well, Sir Nero._

He examined the revealed tunnel. Sure enough, he could see it sloping downwards as it went along. "I'll take point." He did, and he'd barely stepped into the tunnel when a rush of wastewater caught him by surprise, washing him off his feet and shooting him into the darkness. "Nero!" he heard Kyrie yell behind him, and there was a splash in the distance; no doubt she'd jumped in after him. _Well, that's gonna make things interesting._

The tunnel wound and dipped ever lower until finally, nearly a minute later, he could see light coming from up ahead. He dropped as the tunnel ended abruptly, reaching up and grabbing the edge with the Devil Bringer's ghostly arm. He barely had time to catch his breath as Kyrie shot out of the tunnel; he pulled, rocketing upwards to catch her. They tumbled over in midair, and he sent out the Devil Bringer once more to grab a railing not far from where the tunnel had come out, sending them flying towards it.

He landed, with Kyrie in his arms, on a walkway that the railing was bordering. "I've heard of shitty rides, but that…" he said, relieved that they'd somehow made it. "Next time, I'll just take you on a Ferris wheel, if it's all the same."

She nodded her assent as he set her down, still a bit too winded to respond. As she was catching her breath, she looked around them. They were in a large cavern that was, somehow, completely lit; far more than it should have been, given that there were only a few lanterns along the walkway stretching across it. There was a ladder at either end of the walkway, but near one of them was a misshapen creature in a pool of half-dried green liquid. "What's that?"

Nero looked over to it. "I'll check it out. If it bleeds green, it can't be anything good." He walked toward it slowly, wondering just how it had gotten there.

Just a few steps away from it, he heard it gurgle, and it pulled itself up to look at him, with a face that seemed to be half-melted with some kind of acid. He drew Blue Rose as it reached for him with a single, misshapen arm…

There was a sudden pulse from the Devil Bringer, and Nero jumped back; a split-second later, there was a loud crash, and the ladder had been sliced apart, with what was left of the creature splattered over it and dripping green blood. A moment later, a translucent red barrier blocked off the other ladder.

" **How revolting. It turned out to be another rotting morsel after all; this one didn't even bleed right."**

Nero looked around for the source of the voice, but there was too much echoing.

" **Foolish humans, making such twisted beings. And they call demons monsters! This place is…Oh? Now what's this?"**

He glanced at Kyrie protectively, clutching Blue Rose a bit tighter. This was starting to seem very familiar…

" **Two more humans, and neither spoiled. I thought I smelled you earlier; I've been waiting quite a while for another meal."**

The young knight rolled his eyes. "Why is it that the toughest demons love to run their mouths the most? Would you just get your ass out here so we can do this?"

A deep, rumbling laugh echoed around the two. **"A challenge? Now, how could I refuse?"** With a series of loud clicks, something began descending towards them, crawling down one of the rock pillars. As it loomed over them, the light caught it. Nero raised an eyebrow. The demon was a massive crab; its shell bloody red with streaks of jet black and spiny bones sprouting from it, with pincers the size of cars (the left only slightly smaller than the right). Its many legs stabbed into the pillar and its seven eyestalks peered at him with curiosity. Its four-fanged maw looked like a tarantula's fangs had been turned sideways, but covered in hard shell instead of hair. How the rock could support something of its size was an obvious violation of physics, but demons tended to have a passion for breaking rules.

Nero sized up the demon, peering at the ten horns arranged around its eyes in the form of a crown. "Hmm. King crab, eh?"

" **So, shall you be fighting me both at once, or taking turns? Your choice."**

His look became cold. "I won't let you harm a hair on her head." He looked back at her, apologetic. "No offense, but-"

"It's okay." As much as she hated to be sidelined, she doubted that her dwindling supply of crossbow bolts would be very effective against a Greater Demon. She walked over to the only intact ladder that remained.

" **Ah, she will not fight? Very well, then; just the two of us. A hunt is always more exciting between one predator and one prey, anyway."** It clicked what Kyrie assumed was part of its mouth. **"Your terms are acceptable. Let us begin!"**

Nero spun Blue Rose as he put it away, revving Red Queen with a loud rumble. "Bring it; I'll dice you up, you giant side dish!"

" **Not if I slice you apart first,"** it said in amusement. It hissed, and what looked like a spray of dark liquid shot at him from between its fangs; it smelled like blood.

He dodged to the side, smirking and revving his blade twice more. "Is that all the big, bad demon can do?" he taunted. Its response was to leap at him, swiping with both its claws. He managed to duck under the attack, but it was so close that he could feel the air ruffling his hair as it flew by. He straightened up as it impacted a rock pillar, skittering around to look at him again. He drew Blue Rose, firing at the massive demon.

Much to his dismay, the bullets simply bounced off the demon's carapace. **"Hah! The archers of old couldn't pierce my shell, even with the most powerfully enchanted arrows. What makes you think a tiny human weapon like that can do any better?"**

"Well, screw you, I'm an optimist." He fired two more shots at the demon's eyes just to spite it, but as expected, it blocked with its large claws. From the looks of them, the claws had a section of sharpened black bone on the inside, no doubt forming a razor-sharp cutting edge. _Better not get grabbed, I guess._ It laughed at him, clicking its claws in an intimidating way. _I'll make you pay for insulting_ _ **my**_ _gun, but let's see if we can tear a hole in that shell first._

It leapt at him again, but this time he jumped up, grabbing onto the spiky shell of the demon as it flew through the air, landing with a crash on another pillar. Nero held on with the Devil Bringer, slashing at the creature's eyes with his trusty blade. He swung to the left to avoid a jab from one of the demon's legs, and then right to avoid another. _This thing can bend its legs backwards?! Wait, maybe I can use that…_ The next time one of the legs shot at him, he let go of the demon's back, grabbing the leg instead and slicing at where it met the demon's shell with all his might. It went completely through the joint, spraying foul black blood everywhere for a moment, but of course it had healed over nearly instantly. He kicked off its back, giving an eyestalk a parting slash before he landed on the catwalk again.

It gave a cry of…well, at first it seemed like pain, but it seemed to trail on just a bit too long… "That's not the kind of response I'd expect from me trying to take off a leg."

" **What good is a fight without challenge?"** the demon responded. **"The stronger you are, human, the more fun the hunt is. And now…now I'm starting to enjoy this battle."**

"You've got issues."

" **Don't you love the feel of combat?"** it crooned at him. **"The art and flavor of bloodshed…the symphony of screams and death-rattles…isn't it beautiful?"**

Nero scoffed. "Sorry, but we have very different definitions of beauty. Eye of the beholder, and all that."

Far below them, he could hear a sound like rolling waves. He didn't have much time to think about it, though, as the demon attacked again. It shot another spray of blood at him, and he summoned Ascalon into his hands, hunkering behind the shield as the crimson fluid splashed around him (Kyrie had to jump to her right in order to avoid some of the deflected spray). The force of the stream nearly sent him tumbling over the railing. _Yikes; better just get outta the way next time._ The Devil Arm disappeared, and he launched the Devil Bringer at the demon crab, rocketing towards it. This, however, was a mistake. It spat another gout of blood at him, and though he brought out Ascalon's shield in time to block it, a swipe from one of its claws caught him in the back, sending him spinning through the air.

As he did, he found himself thinking of the "Alto Angelos" he had fought as he gripped the Devil Arm that was so reminiscent of them. _If only I could fly like they do!_ , he thought desperately. _…Wait, why can't I?!_ Nero concentrated. _Let this work!_ To his surprise and relief, the shield unfolded from its place on his arm and perched atop his shoulders. He felt himself shift upright, and even though he wasn't exactly flying, he seemed to be falling at a very slow pace. _No sense wasting it!_ He glided over to the platform, and shifted the "wings" back into their shield form once more as he landed. _You've been holdin' out on me, partner,_ he thought as the Devil Arm vanished in a flash of gold light.

 _I cannot answer questions I am not asked. I thought you would already have some idea of my capabilities._

 _You didn't think I might want a quick and dirty rundown of the basics?!_

There was a brief silence in his head as the demon laughed at him once more. _…My apologies, Sir Nero. When the battle has concluded, I will share some of my simple techniques with you._

 _Appreciate it. Almost as much as I would if you'd stop calling me "Sir"._ He beckoned to his enemy. "Scared, pal? I don't blame ya."

" **Amused, actually. You're full of surprises."**

"Oh, I've got plenty more lined up for you, don't worry." The demon leapt over to a pillar near the walkway. _If I time this just right…_ He drew Blue Rose with his right hand, funneling power into it little by little.

" **That pathetic popgun again?"** it scoffed at him. **"Put that toy away and fight me with a real weapon."**

"Humor me." He drew Red Queen with his left hand, waiting for his opponent to make the first move.

And it did. The demon scuttled down towards him, clicking its pincers menacingly. With a tremor running through his arm, he could feel that the time had come. "If you're so hungry, eat THIS!" He fired the empowered shot right at the middle eye.

The demon's claws curled inward to block the shot, which was deflected into the arm joint just below its left claw. It brought the joint close to its eyes as Nero stuffed his revolver into its holster. **"Hmm…now this is a spell I haven't seen. There's power in those pellets, but what-"** It was cut off abruptly as the bullets exploded forcefully, and it gave a jolt of pain and-

"SURPRISE!" Nero roared, sending a full-force uppercut into its jaw.

The massive crustacean rocked backward from the power of the Buster, flipping upwards onto its spiny back and exposing an underside that looked far less thick than the top side. Nero leapt at it, stabbing Ascalon straight through its underbelly all the way to the pommel and pinning it to the pillar as its legs flailed wildly. "Time to deep-fry you!" he yelled, stabbing Red Queen into the demon and revving it. The monster roared in pain as its shell began to heat up. Nero revved twice more, and then kicked off his enemy, ripping the sword and spear out and landing back on the catwalk. The demon fell into the darkness with a mighty splash, but not long after, he and Kyrie heard the telltale sound of it climbing back up again.

The giant crab had scurried back up one of the pillars, its eyes staring at Nero. He noticed that the middle eye was blackened and clenched shut. **"Well now, you're really arousing my interest. Why don't we make things more exciting?"** It clicked its pincers twice, and the sound of moving water grew louder. Nero looked over the railing and saw something moving up towards them. What looked like water the crimson color of blood was rising up from the darkness. It kept going higher and higher, until there was a lake of scarlet liquid sloshing all around them. **"Behold; a glimpse of the Sanguine Sea, from the flows of the Abyss Hell. It has meant the end of scores of human lives, and an everlasting envy from my brethren. Let's see how you handle this one, my little human."** It detached itself from the rock pillar, diving into the fluid with a massive splash.

Nero revved Red Queen. "Your big blood puddle doesn't scare me. And it won't stop me either, you jumped-up crab cake."

As if in response to him, a large spike rose from the water, propelled by a spray of jet-black blood and arcing towards him. He jumped away from it, and it stabbed itself into the metal walkway. _I doubt it'll explode, but…better not take any chances!_ He sliced it apart with his sword, and a small amount of red crystals poured out of the center before being immediately absorbed into the Devil Bringer. The pieces crumbled moments later, and then it was like nothing had happened. It was at that point, though, that four more bone needles shot out of the water.

He brought out the Devil Arm once more, smacking two of the projectiles aside with the shield, jumping out of the way of the third, and swiping at the last with the spear. It flipped around, retracing its course nearly perfectly. The ruby waves around them rippled violently, and his demon opponent rose out of the water, just barely missing its own spiny missile.

Suddenly, Nero had a flash of inspiration. The Devil Arm disappeared, and with the Devil Bringer he grabbed the needle that had impaled the walkway. He ripped it from the metal, and with a yell, hurled it right at the underside of his giant enemy. With no way to correct its course in midair, the demon was hit by the massive barb with enough force to drive it all the way into its body and stop its forward momentum completely. It plummeted, crashing into the surface of the red lake. "Man, talk about a thorn in the side."

The air rang with mad laughter. **"Yes…YES! More blood! More pain! This is what I LIVE for!"** It clicked its pincers overhead, and the liquid around them began to slosh rapidly. **"I might actually be sad to eat you after all this…"** Nero's response was cut off as the waves ascended. To both his and Kyrie's astonishment, the gulf of blood rose in a wall past the railing until it touched the ceiling, leaving the small walkway the only dry place in the entire cave. **"But I must end this now. Before I do, show me that fighting prowess once more; make your dying moments the best of your life!"**

He had no time to respond as a massive claw shot out of the wall of blood, grabbing him and pulling him into the liquid as well.

"Nero!" Kyrie yelled.

He thrashed wildly as the claw slowly began to tighten. He didn't know if his supernatural healing would be able to save him from being cut in half; he had to break free, and quickly! _I could shoot its eyes…but even if I could somehow blind it, it wouldn't help me get out of the claw. If I'd had Ascalon's shield out when it grabbed me, I could've…dammit, no point thinking about that. I've gotta do something!_ Even if he could've pulled Red Queen from his back, the bloody water made his movements slower and weaker. The claw tightened, and he could feel part of it begin to cut into him.

" **After you fought so splendidly, you surely can break free from this, can't you? Or will this crimson tide claim even you, my best prey yet?"**

 _This can't be it…I can't be dying!_ The claw cut deeper, and he roared in pain. _Not here…not here!_

…

 _What are you waiting for?_

He froze in surprise. _Ascalon?_

 _You wield my weapon, do you not? Unleash the devil inside, and call forth our true power!_

He'd never tried it with any Devil Arm besides Yamato…would it even work? Still…he couldn't lose here. If he did, then Kyrie would… _Nothing to lose…LET'S ROCK!_

There was a brilliant flash of light, and Kyrie heard a loud grunt of shock from the demon as a bright form shot out from the red waves to land on the catwalk. She gasped as she saw Nero turn. His jacket and pants had become larger and flatter, with a strange sheen to them, as if they were armor made of lizard's scales. His coat billowed around him, looking more like a cape than anything. The spectre of his Devil Trigger had changed, as well; not only was it a transparent gold, its horns were curved upwards to form the outline of a halo above him, and its left arm, rather than looking like a large sheath, had split into two appendages, with a wing on each of them. His eyes were glowing red as he took up a guarded stance, the spear and shield in his hands. **"If you want to see the best I have, then just watch,"** his voice echoed.

A spray of blood came from his left, but he turned in time to let it pass by him harmlessly. Immediately after, he spun around and took up a defensive position once more. As he did, several more bloody spikes shot from the water. He swiped at them alternately with the shield and spear, knocking them away harmlessly. He then stepped back, and the spear disappeared from his right hand, reappearing in the right hand of the figure over him. A claw struck at him from behind, but this time he was ready. He turned, putting his full weight into a Buster to counter the attack. The claw was deflected from its target, and the specter's left hand grabbed it, giving a mighty heave.

The massive form of the demon crab erupted from the wall of blood, its spiny back hitting the walkway with a tremendous crash. Not daring to lose his advantage, Nero leapt into the air, throwing his left arm out and pointing down. Several ethereal golden spears appeared, stabbing into the joints of the monster's claws and many legs. He dropped, drawing Red Queen as he did and plunging it into the demon's underbelly with both hands as the spectre did the same with the spear.

" **Back to Hell with you!"** he thundered as he revved the blade over and over, the golden spectre stabbing into the demon every time he did. He pulled the trigger of the blade, hurtling backwards through the air in a graceful flip as the force of the attack carried him back around to land at the walkway again. As the spectral spears disappeared, he gave the demon a solid kick, which in his state was powerful enough to flip it back over, crashing onto its stomach and its legs and claws drooping over the crushed railing. His Devil Trigger ended; the spectre and Devil Arm vanished, and his clothes and eyes returned to normal.

He replaced Red Queen on his back as the beast slumped; black ichor oozing from its many wounds. "That all you got, soft-shell?" Nero challenged.

The demonic crustacean glared at him for several seconds. Nero smirked back, ready to take it on again. And then, it gave a sigh of contentment. **"That…was the best hunt I've ever had. Even the most succulent of humans can't compare. The thrill…the blood…the challenge! And all from a human…"** It gave a tired laugh. **"Tell me, mortal. What is your name?"**

He eyed the demon warily. "Nero."

" **An old name, fit for a conqueror and butcher, with love and hate that burn equally bright. It suits you."**

"Uh…thanks."

" **I am the Scourge of the Treacherous Depths, Karkinos. I must admit, I've never met a human like you before. Our terms have been fulfilled, but…"** It paused, and he tensed, waiting for it to stage a surprise attack. **"…forgive me if I seem a bit forward. Please take me with you."**

His eyebrows rose so high he thought his eyes might fall out. "…Say again?"

" **I've told you, I live for battle. I crave it as humans crave food and drink. Wherever you shall go from here, death and carnage will no doubt follow; I can sense it. I beg of you, let me serve you during those times."**

He chuckled despite himself. "Even if I said yes, how are you gonna fit through the doors?"

" **That was not what I intended. My body can go no further in any case. You wield Ascalon; she knows of what I speak."**

 _It means a Devil Arm_ Nero heard in his mind. "A Devil Arm? What about a Devil Arm?"

" **I wish to pledge my strength to you, to use in your battles ahead. Will you accept?"**

He turned it over in his mind. On the one hand, this demon wasn't saying a single thing about changing its ways or atoning, so it wasn't really trustworthy. But on the other, if it was giving him a Devil Arm with its last breath, and it was anything like Ascalon, was there really a downside here? "…All right."

Its body moved into a standing position. **"Then I pledge my loyalty to you henceforth."** It gave a pained laugh. **"To think that a Baron of the Abyss would call a human 'master'…"** It slumped forward, its claws curling around Nero. At first he thought it was attacking him again, but its eyes closed and a bright light began to gather above its head. It grew brighter and brighter until he and Kyrie had to close their eyes. There was a loud sound like thunder, and then silence.

Finally, he opened his eyes again. He gave a start; the body of Karkinos had disappeared, and he was holding two unfamiliar weapons in his hands. Examining them, he saw they were scythes with black handles and red blades, with the bottom of each handle forming a half-clasp shaped like a claw. He stood in stunned silence for a few moments as the truth of the situation caught up with him.

And then, with a grin, he began slashing the air in front of him. The feel of the pair was odd; they were similar sizes, but the right one was a bit bigger. He leapt into the air, spinning around with the scythes extended like a human helicopter, then flipped forwards, slicing a perfect circle in midair. He landed, and then connected the scythes together by the clasps. Swinging them over his head, the wall of red waves churned around him and Kyrie. He broke the weapons apart and slashed both in an outward direction; the waves followed suit, crashing into the cavern walls and disappearing.

Nero turned to Kyrie, the scythes disappearing in a flash of red light. "You okay?"

She nodded, smiling proudly at him. "I don't usually see you fight all-out; I forget how strong you are sometimes."

 _Progeny of Sparda? And here I thought you were a pure human who knew sorcery; no wonder I lost._

Nero felt a stab of irritation. _Great, now there's two of you renting my headspace. Are you sure about this?_

 _I've no attachment to what form I take, as long as I can savor battle. Whether by my hands, or by myself in your hands, either way is acceptable. Too late to reconsider in any case._

 _Being a Devil Arm isn't so bad_ Ascalon said in reassurance. _Besides, Sir Nero is valiant and true; he will treat us with honor and dignity._

He fought the smirk crossing his face. _Didn't I tell you "just Nero" several times? The whole "sir" thing is just uncomfortable._

 _You_ _ **are**_ _a knight, are you not?_ Ascalon retorted sulkily. _You cannot bear to be called by your title? What about Karkinos? Does her unquenchable bloodlust not make you uncomfortable?_

 _Well, being as I've known Dante for a while, not-_ He broke off, replaying Ascalon's words in his head. _Wait, "her"?_

 _Isn't that what you use when talking about a female?_ Karkinos asked in confusion. _Surely things have not changed that much in the last century…_

Nero's forehead fell into the palm of the Devil Bringer, which was now glowing red. _Well, how the hell was I supposed to see that one coming?! You're the one with such a deep, growly voice!_

"Nero? Is something wrong?"

* * *

CHAPTER END

ENEMY FILE

 **New!** Karkinos

-A Greater Demon well-known for its bloodthirstiness and appetite for human flesh, which has somehow escaped into the Human World. Its tough shell renders it invulnerable to magic and projectile attacks.

-It can spray a stream of blood at you with impressive accuracy, even from a distance or underwater. Make sure to avoid it, or it might knock you right off the platform.

-It is unwise to attack the demon up close when it takes its perch on the side of the pillars. Find some way to bring it closer first.

-It will raise a wall of water-like blood higher and higher as the battle continues, concealing its movements. Beware, as it can move easily through this substance and attack from unexpected angles.

-When the blood pool has reached the highest point of the room, the demon may try to capture you and constrict your movement. Unleash your full power and break free before your body is split apart!

-The demon will leap at you in an attempt to knock you off the platform. Paying close attention to its posture will allow you to predict this attack and avoid it or counterattack as you see fit.

-The needles on its back can be fired at you like missiles using its high-pressure blood. They cannot change direction in mid-flight, so deflect them or counter with the right attack to send them back at the enemy.

-Though the top and sides of its shell are able to withstand even anti-tank fire, its underside and eyes are susceptible to damage from your weapons. Defeat it and prove your strength as a Devil Hunter!

 _8/8_

* * *

Author's Note: Well, that was my first attempt at an original DMC-style boss. I hope it turned out okay; let me know what you think! Whether it's by PM or review, your comments always get me motivated. :-)

Speaking of, I hope this one satisfies your hunger for updates, SereneCrosstamer! And if not, next month's not too far away, anyhow. ;-)


	18. 17: Floating Memories

After having dealt with the pipe-wielding mutant, Leon and Dante had tried to return through the door they'd used to enter, but it was still locked. With no other option, they instead went to the other door, which had an extremely large fuse panel on it.

After Dante pried the cover off it, he let out a snort. "Whoever set this stuff up musta had _way_ too much time on his hands. Why else would someone make it this complicated?"

Leon nodded, pulling the four fuses out of his pockets that were topped with chess pieces. "Maybe so. Still, it's not too bad; there's only four open spots. According to the note here, I have to set it up so that black wins with checkmate." He began tapping his foot and muttering to himself.

"Ugh," said the Son of Sparda in disgust. "Would it have killed them to just have everything in the starting position? No, it's gotta be complicated. What's next? A lock set up like a game of Chinese checkers? No, wait, lemme guess; a great big Go board that you have to play through until you win? Maybe-"

"Done." With a final click, the last fuse was set in place, and they heard the door unlock.

Dante stared at Leon. "…You actually like chess, don't you?"

"You don't?"

"Let's see if _you_ like a game after the pieces try to kill you."

Leon rolled his eyes upwards. "Not even going to ask," he muttered as they went through the now open door.

They seemed to be at a more modern section of the sewers now; they were on a walkway above a large sewage filtration machine. The machine itself was set into a sewer channel filled with foul water and who knew what else. They'd barely taken two steps forward before a figure dropped down onto one of the ledges bordering the waterway. And it was a very _familiar_ figure…

"Ada!"

She gave him the briefest of glances before rolling towards the stairs leading up to them. Another figure landed behind her, its claws cutting deep grooves into the concrete she'd been standing on moments earlier. Turning to face the creature, she fired her submachine gun at it as she retreated up the stairs, and after a few seconds of sustained fire, it collapsed with a loud squeal. Ada nodded, lowering her weapon.

"What was that all about?!" Leon asked.

"It was a demon." The answer came not from her, but from Dante. "After all the fake Blades in the mansion, I thought we might bump into a real one."

Leon watched in amazement as the so-called demon began to melt before his eyes. As it did, blood formed in a pool around it. Strangely, when the monster's body had finally vanished, the blood seemed to crystallize somehow.

"And there's the silver lining," Dante said cheerfully, walking past the two to scoop up the handful of red crystals.

Shaking his head, he deliberately ignored the man's unexplained oddities and instead focused on his other partner's unexplained idiocy. "Running off on your own like that was stupid! And reckless! And…stupid!" Leon snapped. "There's all kinds of monsters running around here, including whatever it was that got Ben! Even behind steel bars, he wasn't safe alone!"

"I was there, Leon. I remember," Ada responded, a cool edge to her voice.

He gave a great, steadying sigh, forcing his temper and headache back down. "…Look. As someone who's an officer, it's my job to protect everyone I can. We have to look out for each other if we want any hope of getting out of this city alive; let's try to work together, okay?"

She stared at him for a few moments, contemplating. "…All right. We'll try it your way; for now, at least."

"Well, that's a start."

Dante returned to them, tucking a bottle away into his coat. "Secondhand, she won't be happy about that…" The man in red sighed, and then looked between the two. "You gonna join the party?"

She looked him over, her eyes lingering on the sword that was on his back. "It would seem so. I don't believe we've met."

He grinned. "Just a freelance problem solver who's saved Leon's sorry butt several times now. You're Ada, I take it; like your style." The man gave a nod to her red outfit and then walked off toward the end of the passageway. Ada looked inquiringly at Leon, who simply shrugged, and they followed him, catching up once they'd reached a large metal door.

According to all the caution symbols, it was supposed to open when the lever near it was pulled, but after Leon had, it simply shook for a few seconds while a grinding came from inside the walls. "Damn thing's stuck. It must be rusted from all the water around here." He looked at Dante expectantly.

"And what's that look for?"

"You're the one who took a helicopter to the face and walked away. I figured you could crack it open for us. …Please."

Dante stared at him for a few seconds, but then smiled. "Oh, okay. But only because you said 'please'." He drew Rebellion from his back, jamming the tip of the sword between the cracks of the steel door. He pushed down forcefully, and there was a loud metallic cracking noise behind the wall. He returned the sword to its place on his back, pulling the lever and grinning as the door split apart, the bottom half sinking down into the channel and the top rising into the ceiling. They all stepped through immediately, and a good thing they had; with surprising speed, the doors locked shut again.

Two lizard-like creatures, identical to the one that they'd just killed, were in the passageway they found themselves in. These, however, had yellow disks on their right arms and coverings over their heads. Leon had the bizarre thought that they might be shields and helmets, but that couldn't be right. Why would monsters be wearing armor? _Was Dante right? Are these things really demons?_

Whatever they were, one of them had noticed the group of humans. It snarled at them, which got the attention of its fellow and it turned to face them as well. In unison, both pulled a section of their masks down to cover their heads completely. _…Damn, they really are helmets!_ Leon thought, bringing his shotgun to bear on their enemies as Ada aimed her machine gun.

Dante, however, had made no move to draw his pistols. "I'll take the one on the right." With no further preamble, he launched forward at the beast in question, bringing his sword down against its shield as the force of his advance pushed them further into the passageway.

Ada and Leon wasted no time in firing at the remaining monster, which had been turning to join its ally in fighting Dante. Their shots, however, caught its attention as they hit the monster's unprotected back, and it hurriedly turned to face them again, raising its shield to block their attacks.

The Devil Hunter, in the meantime, had planted a kick into the Blade's mask hard enough to crack it. He deflected its slashing claws with Rebellion, and with a quick two-slash combo, he'd shattered the helmet and it fell from the demon's head in pieces. It took a few steps back, holding its shield up with one hand as it pointed its other at him; blood vessels close to the claws began to visibly throb. Normally he would've dodged out of the way easily, but his partners didn't have the same durability as he did. _The stuff I go through to help people…_

It fired the three claws on its hand at him with sprays of high-pressure blood. They flew at him with great speed; which meant that he needed perfect timing. Dante moved in a blur, one hand catching the claw between his fingers, the other hand plucking a second claw from the air, and the third came straight at his grinning face.

 _CLACK!_

The demon looked at him, confused. He was holding a claw between his pointer and middle fingers, and the third was…between his teeth?

"Hya!" His hands moved again, flicking the claws back at the Blade. They struck the demon simultaneously, impaling its eyes. As it roared in pain, Dante spat the last of its own projectiles back at it, stabbing into the roof of its mouth with enough momentum to make it flip backwards onto its stomach. He leapt over the top of the blinded demon, slicing downward with Rebellion like a crimson guillotine. The demon tried to stand back up, but it was too late; the attack severed the creature's spine, blood coating the Devil Hunter as the demon gurgled pitifully in its final moments.

Ada and Leon had split up to take positions on opposite sides of their enemy, each taking turns to attack the demon when its back was exposed with the other jumping away from the line of fire. The Blade roared in anger, deciding to leap at Ada in an attempt to behead her.

Leon wasn't sure what made him do it, but he leapt after the creature himself as Ada rolled under its claw swipe. The instant it had landed, he crashed into it with his shotgun, the new bayonet buried up to the hilt in its exposed back and slamming it up against the wall of the sewer channel. He pulled the trigger, the recoil of the shot freeing his weapon from the creature and cutting a bloody hole through the monster's torso. It crumpled, hissing in pain before it and its companion began to melt.

"I'll admit, that is easier with two people," Ada commented. "Less ammo wasted, and you make for a good diversion."

"I think it liked you more," Leon commented, catching his breath. "Tried to leap into your arms at the end, there."

They stepped up onto a ledge to leave the channel and saw a door not far away, two potted plants flanking it. Leon handed them to Dante with a smirk, and he pulled them from the pots before stuffing them into his coat. "Tossing blue and yellow plants at me like I'm some sort of walking greenhouse," he grumbled. "No thanks for that Blade? The claw tasted like motor oil and backwash…"

Leon deliberately ignored him as they pushed onwards.

Beyond the door was a sewer manager's office with two large tables shoved together. To Leon's eyes, it looked like a strange conference room. Before he could examine it much further, however, he heard Ada clearing her throat. "Well, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend, Leon?"

"Oh, sorry! Dante, this is Ada Wong. Ada, this is Dante," he said, grinning guiltily.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "…That's it?"

"Hey, go easy on the guy. He's just about as hopeless with intros as he is with eulogies," Dante said as he flipped through several sheets held together by a paper clip. "I'm a handyman for hire, and there's no job I can't handle."

"Is that right?" she said, an amused smile on her face. "And just what job might you be working for Leon?"

"Exterminator," he said, his eyes narrowing at the sight of a familiar name on the papers. _So the Chief was a dirty cop after all. Should've figured…I'll bet he's somehow responsible for all this._ He stuffed the papers into his coat. _A few more things like this, and those Umbrella scum are dead in the water._ He blinked, shaking his head slightly. _Sheesh…almost started thinking like Vergil for a sec there._

Apart from a box of handgun bullets they found in an abandoned purse (Dante cheekily asking Ada if she'd left it there), the only other thing of interest was a small cargo lift. The three of them barely fit onto it all at once, especially with Dante's sword limiting their safe standing areas, but they finally descended down.

Once they reached the T-shaped corridor at the bottom, Ada had barely taken a step off the platform when they saw a woman in a white lab coat enter from an intersection further ahead. "Who are you?" Ada called to her. The woman's head turned sharply in her direction, and then she bolted back into the passageway she'd come from.

"Hey, wait!" Leon yelled as Ada ran to catch up with her. He saw her open her mouth to speak again, and then two gunshots sounded out as chunks flew off the wall behind her. "Get down!" he yelled, hurling himself towards her…

* * *

Claire and Lady helped Sherry up from the ladder into the corridor at the top, even as Claire's eyes began to water at the terrible smell. It seemed they were getting even further into the sewers; she could only hope that they'd be getting back out of them just as quickly.

"Ugh, it stinks!" Sherry said, holding her nose.

"It sure does," Lady remarked. It wasn't the first time she'd traveled through sewers for a mission, but that didn't mean it got any more fun with each trip. "Let's move quickly so that we can breathe properly again."

They walked along the sewer passageway, but it soon turned to the left, the only option to continue being to step down into the sewer channel.

Sherry looked nauseous as she looked at the foul water. "Do we really have to?"

"I'm afraid so," Lady said, checking her legs over. "Make sure you don't have any open wounds or cuts before we do."

The other two nodded, and finding nothing of the sort, Claire was the first one to step into the disgusting water. "Let's go," she said quietly, determined to keep a strong front for Sherry's sake. Lady stepped in next, and both helped Sherry down. As they prepared to head for the large metal door near them, however, they heard heavy footsteps approaching. Claire gasped. _No…not him…not here!_

It was not the bald man in the trench coat, however, but something else. A man with a misshapen torso was walking on a catwalk over the opposite wall. His right arm was huge and holding a massive pipe, with a bloodshot eyeball sticking out of the shoulder. He was wearing the remains of what looked like a tattered lab coat, and his hair seemed to be dirty-blonde. It was difficult to tell exactly, however, as there was a large amount of blood coating the mutated person.

Lady waved silently to catch their attention, and then pressed a finger to her lips. She backed towards the massive door slowly, her eyes on the misshapen person the entire time. They followed suit, wading soundlessly through the water until they'd reached the door. Claire pulled the lever next to the door, and with a loud metallic rattling, the door opened for them. The noise, however, also got the attention of the mutant, whose head turned to stare directly at them.

"RUN!" Claire yelled, and they raced through the door. As it closed behind them, she could have sworn she heard the thing speak.

" _Sherry…"_

"Dad?" …She hadn't been the only one, apparently. "Was that thing after my dad?!"

They didn't even have a chance to respond; there was a sudden rattling, and Sherry was swept off her feet and sucked through a hole at the bottom of one of the walls.

"Sherry!" Claire tried to make a grab for her, but missed. Lady managed to snag her wrist, but the sewer water had made her arm so slippery that it slid right through her grasp. They had a final glimpse of her terrified face, her arm still reaching out for them, before she'd disappeared.

"No!" Lady yelled. "Claire, follow her!"

Claire shook her head. "It's too small; even if I left all my weapons behind, I couldn't fit through!"

The last of the water left the canal, and as it did, they heard a distant splash. "SHERRY!" Claire called out desperately.

"Claire!" her voice responded. "I'm okay! But I don't know how to get back! I'm up to my waist in…in…" They heard a muffled retching sound.

"Just listen to my voice! We can't fit through the shaft to follow you, but we'll try to find another way! What can you see?"

"It's dark in here, but there's a light up ahead!"

Claire looked at Lady. "What do you think? Should we tell her to stay where she is or check it out?"

"The sooner she's out of that water, the better. I say she should go towards the light."

"But if she does, there's a chance that a zombie or something worse could see her," Claire pointed out. "And the sound of running water might mask her footsteps."

"It might also make it easier for something to sneak up on her. Don't forget those monsters with tongues don't need to see."

"But if she-"

"The light is next to a door, and it's up out of the water!" the girl's voice called up to them, interrupting Claire's retort. "It might bring me back up to you."

Lady gave her a look before calling down to Sherry. "Go in that direction, then. But be careful, okay? That monster might still be nearby!"

"O-Okay! I'll see you soon!" They heard the distant sound of her splashing her way through the muck, and all too quickly, it faded away into nothing. Straining their ears, they just caught the sound of a door being shut.

"Let's go," Claire said, her shoulders squared. "We need to find her again, and fast."

"Agreed. I'll call it in while we move."

* * *

"OOGH!"

Ada tumbled to the ground from the force of Leon's tackle as the footsteps of the woman who had shot at them retreated into the distance. She untangled herself from him. "Leon!"

He held a hand to his stomach, coughing. "I don't care…how stupid it looks…" he wheezed painfully. "So glad…we grabbed that armor…uhhhh…"

She let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "Looks like you and your body armor saved me." She looked at him sadly. "Sorry to leave you, but don't worry. I won't let her get away." She got to her feet and ran off after the other woman.

"Ada…wait…"

But this couldn't wait. Still, something was bothering her even as his groans grew distant. _Leon…why did you…?_

Dante had finally tore himself free of the tiny lift (literally; it was probably unusable now), but Ada had already sped down the corridor, and it was at that moment the R.P.D. officer's radio crackled to life. "Lady to Leon. Respond."

Dante strode over to him, pulling the radio from his belt. "He might need a minute for that one; he's just been shot."

"What?!" he heard Claire's voice blare from the other end. "What the hell happened?!"

"He's gonna be fine. His vest stopped the bullet; he'll pull through."

"Hope so," Leon said, getting shakily to his feet. "Feels like I just got hit in the gut with a sledgehammer…"

"What happened?" Lady's voice said.

"Some lady in a lab coat popped off a few shots at Ada, and our boy in blue had to pull the diving heroic save. All the good it did him; she just chased off after the shooter, not so much as a 'thanks' for his trouble."

"And you just let her get away?"

"What, and leave our noble cop buddy all alone after he took a bullet? I may not be the best team player, but I'm not an ass."

"I suppose. Well, things aren't much better here. While we were running away from a mutant with a giant pipe-"

"Wait, did it have an eyeball in its shoulder?"

There was a short pause before she responded. "So you've encountered it too?"

"Yeah, Leon kicked its ass. Anyway, go on."

"While we were fleeing, we…well…sort of…" She mumbled another two words so softly that anyone but Dante would have missed them. "…lost Sherry."

"And you just let her get away?" he asked.

"Dante, you're being an ass," she said warningly. "There was a drain panel that opened unexpectedly and dropped her down to a lower level. We're going to-" She stopped suddenly, and Dante heard the unmistakable growl of Blades. "Sorry, looks like we've got guests to entertain."

He looked up, seeing a pair of Blades approaching them as well. "Ditto. Call you later." He tossed the radio back to Leon and drew his sword.

* * *

The light at the end of the tunnel had led her through a door into a storeroom. Sherry took great care to look around and see if she could spot any zombies lurking anywhere. There were none in sight, but judging from the groaning coming from around the corner, one was waiting back there.

She took a deep, quiet breath. _I can do this. As long as I stay out of sight and don't make too much noise, I should be able to sneak around him._ Sherry was painfully aware that, aside from her pendant, she only had a first-aid spray in her pockets; something that would be useless as a weapon. _Think, Sherry…what is there in here that you can use?_

There was a large quiver of arrows on one of the shelves, but that wouldn't help her, and Claire didn't use arrows for her weapons. She didn't know about Lady, but of all the weapons strapped to the woman, she hadn't seen anything that would use the arrows either. There was, however, a can of spray paint not far away from it. She took it, looking cautiously around the room. There were no other doors or passageways; she'd have to go past the zombie and see what was on the other side of the last shelf.

 _You can do this. Just pretend you're not afraid of it; Claire and Lady aren't, so you don't have to be either._ With one more deep breath, she walked towards the unexplored section of the room. If she was lucky, maybe it wouldn't even be paying attention and she could just tiptoe right past…

…She was not lucky.

The zombie was staring directly at the walkway that would take her around it, and the instant she came around the corner, they saw each other. It groaned, shuffling slowly towards her.

"N-no! Get away! I…" The image of Claire firing at one of the monsters burst into her mind; she would be confident! She would be strong! "I'm not afraid of you!" She aimed the can at the zombie and squeezed the nozzle with everything she had. Black paint splattered all over the undead man's eyes and coated the inside of his gaping mouth. It screeched, clawing at its own face, and Sherry took the chance to slip by it. As she moved away from it, she heard it gurgle and spit up onto the ground. Not wanting to face a vomiting zombie, even one blinded with paint, she hurriedly searched for some means of leaving. Spotting a vent grate, she pulled it open and wiggled through it without delay, finding herself in a ventilation corridor.

If possible, it smelled even worse than the sewer. As she advanced, several large bugs began crawling out of a barred grate at the top. She sprayed at them with her paint, breaking into a run as she hurried towards another vent at the other end. She crawled through it, bile rising in her throat as she felt the bugs squirming over her legs. The instant she'd reached the other side, she kicked the cover closed, batting the insects away from her and stepping on them in disgust.

It took Sherry a moment to catch her breath from that, after which she looked around her. There seemed to be piles of trash bags and other things scattered around her; no doubt this was the source of the horrible smell. There was, however, something that looked impeccably clean sitting atop the mound of refuse; a silver medal with a wolf on the front. She walked forward, pocketing the small object.

But the instant she had, she felt the metal under her feet give way, and she was falling…falling…falling…

 _Some time later…_

He was whistling a jaunty tune as he strode through the passageway, headed for the area he knew that they'd be. "Now, if memory serves, this is just about the time that he…he…" He frowned; there was a black-cloaked figure standing in his way. "Well, this is a surprise. I thought you weren't going to get in my way?"

"Where'd you get that idea?" The figure took its hood off, grinning. "Heya, Mar! That is what you're going by, right?"

"Ugh, it's you. I was expecting someone else."

"Aww, c'mon! I came all this way just to see you, and that's the welcome I get?" He frowned slightly, but it had been replaced by another grin mere seconds later. "Hey, hey Mar. I gotta question for ya!"

Mar sighed in irritation. "For the last time…if it's already removed, if I can't do it myself, and if you don't make stupid puns, then yes, you CAN use my dismembered arm to beat people to death with!"

"Just checkin'."

"You ask that every time we meet…" He shook his head. "Never mind that. We can talk later; out of my way."

He shook his head. "Nope."

"…I have business here, unlike you. Now move."

"I've got business, too." The smile hadn't left his face, but now there was a mocking lilt to his words. "Orders are orders, like it or not. Even though I do."

"Are you insane?! You know what's about to happen! I'm not going to let something so revolting take place if I can help it."

"We can't interfere," he said in a sing-song voice. "Our hands and feet shall hold no sway; only our pawns can change the day."

"It's inconsequential."

"And that's not your call to make. You know the rules, pally." His grin took a much more feral appearance. "But…if you wanna press the issue, I can always mop the floor with you again. What'll it be now, the…thirteenth time?"

"Eleventh!" he insisted. "I'll wipe that smug grin off your face yet…and when I have, I'll do things MY way!"

* * *

Dante replaced his trusty blade on his back as the Blades stirred in their death throes. "And that's how you get rid of Blades. Sure hope you're taking notes, Leon."

"Yeah, as soon as I get out of here, the first thing I'm going to do is get a massive sword almost as big as me and start cutting up demons with it." He rolled his eyes. "I'll stick with guns, thanks. Unlike you, I don't need to compensate for anything."

"Wow, don't hurt yourself with such an original and unique joke. Besides, who says I'm compensating? If you don't believe-" His next words were cut off as a lift opposite the broken one they'd used began to descend. He drew Ebony to point at it, but lowered his gun and grinned when he saw who was on it. "What took you so long?"

"Didn't want to take away your chance to show off," Lady responded, stepping off the platform as it came to a stop.

"Are you hurt?" Claire asked Leon, walking over to him.

"I'm fine." He tapped the large red vest. "I guess this thing was a life preserver after all."

She smiled, but it didn't last long. "Now that we're all here, let's get going. We can't leave Sherry on her own down here."

They marched ahead, Leon grabbing a map off the wall before they took the door at the end. It led them to another sewer passageway that branched off in two separate directions. They went to the left first; it was a dead end, with a ladder leading up to a ventilation fan and several dead commandos submerged in a corner. "What happened here?" Leon wondered aloud.

"They've been dead for a while," Lady remarked, studying the various states of decay the men's bodies were in. "I'd say a week at least; maybe more. Hmm…" She reached into the water, pulling a submachine gun from the grasp of one of the corpses. "An MP5; this might come in handy." She pointed it at one of the bodies and pulled the trigger. There was a soft click, but nothing else happened. "Damn; the gunpowder in these bullets must be soaked." Shrugging, she dropped it back into the water.

"Hey, hold on a second!" Leon exclaimed, picking it back up. "Shouldn't we take this with us?"

"The ammunition's useless, and during an outbreak like this, accuracy is more important than rate of fire. Even if it can hold thirty shots, as long as we're partnered up, we can stagger our reloads so that it isn't an issue. And most importantly, we're all carrying a lot of weight already."

He eyed the rocket launcher on her back, as well as the several guns attached to her body, before looking at Claire and the grenade launcher she had strapped to her. "…I guess you're right. But we can still make use of this." He climbed up the ladder while holding the weapon, stopping at the top. The fan was spinning rapidly; too fast to safely slip by. After a few moments of watching the blades carefully, he extended the stock of the gun and poked the main part of it in. With a loud clang and a massive shudder, the blades had stopped; the gun wedged between the frame and one of the three fan blades.

Dante gave a whistle of appreciation. "You're learning, kid! That's lesson five; when there's no key in sight, improvise."

He slid back down the ladder. "Claire, you and Lady should head the other way. Dante and I will head through here and see what we can find."

"Oh, and while you're at it…" Dante began rummaging in his pockets before taking out the circular valve wheel and handing it to Lady. "Take that with you."

"Won't you need it?" she asked.

"If I need to control water flow, I can turn it to ice. You'll need it more."

Claire looked at Lady, who nodded and took the wheel, tying it to her rocket launcher. "Okay. Stay in touch." She adjusted her grenade launcher, and then trudged off through the water. Lady gave Leon a brief, appraising sort of look before she followed.

He and Dante waited until they heard the sound of a gate opening and closing before heading up the ladder. Once at the top, they crossed through the fan tunnel and through the other side; Dante, rather than searching for a way to stop the fan, punched the whole assembly with enough force to break it loose and send the wreckage flying down into the water far below.

They climbed down the ladder, winding their way around the catwalk and taking the only door they could find along their elevated path.

Dante raised an eyebrow. "Well…this is new."

* * *

After dealing with the two giant spiders they'd encountered in the next sewer passage, they were given the choice between an elevated set of double doors or a nasty-smelling waterfall. Between the two, the double doors seemed like the better option. They went through them, finding themselves on a walkway above a pool of sewer water, with a large column leading up to a bridge above them. A large machine with what looked like a valve was near a section of the walkway missing its railing, with the text "Bridge elevation control" over it.

Lady strode over to the valve, attaching the handle Dante had given her and turning it. The column began to descend, the bridge it supported rotating until it had reached their level and stopping, making a path for them across the pool.

They heard the sound of someone coughing, and a woman crawled out from under the machine. Her clothes were soaked and gave off such a scent, Lady wondered if she had fallen into the sewer pool. She helped the woman to her feet, and both she and Claire led her back by the double doors.

"Are you okay?" Claire asked her. "You look like you…" She broke off as the woman shook water out of her blonde hair. The lady was wearing a soaked lab coat and clutching a small pistol. Claire's eyes narrowed. "Are you the one who shot Leon?"

The woman looked up at her, startled, and then broke free of her and Lady. She stepped backwards, raising her pistol. "And who might you be?" the woman demanded as she leveled her gun at them. "More spies for Umbrella?" Her eyes glanced over them. "…One wouldn't think so from your attire."

"Why do you think so many people underestimate us?" Lady remarked.

"Not helping!" Claire hissed at her. "We're not spies," she said to the other woman, eying the gun nervously. "We just want to-"

"I'll tell you the same thing I told the other one: you're not getting your hands on my husband's work. _No one_ is." She narrowed her eyes at Claire over the sights. "Not after what it's done."

"Look, we don't have time for this!" Lady snapped at her. She didn't so much as flinch when the gun was trained on her. "There's a little girl we're trying to protect, and if you get in our way-!"

"'Little girl'?" The blood drained from her face. "No…Please, tell me it isn't her. Tell me it's not my Sherry!"

" _Your_ Sherry?! Then you must be…"

"Yes. I'm her mother, Annette Birkin. But what's she doing _here_?! I told her to stay at the police station; William will be after her here!"

"What do you mean, 'William'? What's going on here?" asked Claire.

"I can help with that," a new voice announced. Annette spun around to find a man in a tattered gray cloak behind her. "Hey there," he said, waving. His hand had several cuts crisscrossing it, and one of his eyes had been blackened.

" _You_ ," Lady snarled.

"Yep, me. Hey, you two are moving right along, aren't you? I wasn't expecting you for another twenty minutes." He glanced at Annette. "Well, it can't be helped. If you wanna give the audio, I'll supply the video."

"What are you talking about? Just who are you?!" she yelled as she aimed at him.

"I'm no one special. But if it helps, call me Mar the Sorcerer. And I'm here to make some magic." He pointed a finger above himself, and a large cloudy green mass formed above him. Mar snapped his fingers, and the cloud formed into a bright rectangle. "Let's see how a city died." He turned around to look at it as images flashed across it, and the others watched, transfixed.

 _A team of four masked commandos made their way down a metal corridor. The team leader made a hand motion, and two of them halted as he led the remaining one forward silently._

 _Meanwhile, a brown-haired scientist was holding up a syringe with purple fluid. "I never dreamed this day would come so soon. My precious G-virus…I can't allow anyone to take you for themselves. Not when I'm so close…" He closed the briefcase next to him, stuffing the syringe into his lab coat. He took hold of the briefcase, grabbing a gun from under his desk with his other hand. As he did, the door to the lab opened, and he turned to face the commandos as they entered. "So you've finally come. You're early; my compliments to Umbrella's finest."_

 _The team leader held up a hand to halt his comrade, lowering his machine gun very slightly. "Doctor," the cool voice said through the gas mask, "we're here to collect the G-virus sample. If you turn it over peacefully, no one has to get hurt."_

" _Don't make me laugh, you ignorant child. I've worked with this company long enough to know their capacity for tolerance." He backed up slowly, the briefcase sliding along the top of the workbench. "I won't hand over my life's work to some short-sighted fool who can't see its true worth."_

 _The briefcase collided with a metal thermos, sending it tumbling to the floor with a loud noise. The other team member, whose finger had not left the trigger, squeezed reflexively at the noise, hitting the researcher several times in the right arm and chest. He tumbled to the floor, the gun falling from his grasp with a clatter._

" _Cease fire!" the team leader commanded. "We can't risk hitting the sample!" His subordinate complied, and the leader grabbed the briefcase from the scientist's slackened grip. "Objective secured. Alpha Team, move out!" They left the man there in the room, blood pouring out of him._

 _A few moments later, a woman ran into the room. "I heard gunfire! What-" Annette gasped. "W-William! No…no! Just hold on, darling; I'll get something to seal the wounds. Hold on!" She bolted from the room._

 _The man slumped forward, and as he did, the syringe from his coat tumbled into his left hand. He grasped it, and with the last of his strength, plunged it into his heart. Mere seconds later, his head rose sharply, eyes a deep red…_

"He actually injected the G-virus…into his own body?!" Claire exclaimed.

"It has the ability to restore cellular function and repair damaged tissue at an astounding rate," Annette whispered. "Oh, William…I'm so sorry…"

 _The image shifted. The masked squad was being attacked now by something that resembled the scientist from before, though its right arm was large and misshapen. It knocked the team leader aside, the briefcase crashing into a sewer wall and bursting open, and crushed a second squad member's head with its giant arm. The other two opened fire as their team leader rose back up, but their bullets seemed to have no effect. It walked towards them menacingly, and within moments, it had snapped the neck of one and torn the other in two. It slowly turned to the briefcase, where all of its green capsules had shattered._

 _The team leader pulled a grenade from his belt with his right hand, throwing it as he grabbed a purple vial from the remains of the briefcase's contents. He hurled himself into the sewer water as the grenade exploded, its force shaking the sewer tunnel violently. The man rose, looking into the cloud of dust for signs of the monster._

 _An arm shot out of the cloud, grabbing him by the throat. With his breath rapidly dwindling, he reached for his sidearm, but the creature tossed him into the wall at the far end of the tunnel, his vest ripped away as the creature kept a grip on it. The leader smashed into the wall, jagged rocks cutting deep gashes into his chest as he fell onto the walkway. He raised his trembling left hand in horror; several shards of glass had pierced through it, and the last sight he had was his hand falling onto his chest, as the creature scooped up the other purple vials, drinking them greedily…and was that rain dripping onto him…?_

 _Several rats, taking refuge from the clash, watched from their holes in the walls until the coast was finally clear. Indifferent to the whole procedure, several went to investigate the broken glass with green liquid pooling around it. Finding nothing offensive about its smell, a few took experimental licks of the substance…_

"…I see…" Claire said quietly. "Those rats were the first carriers, and they must have spread the virus from there."

"But…wait!" Lady insisted. "He didn't rise from the dead, so his brain should still be working properly. Why is Sherry in danger from him?"

"…As a result of the virus, his limbic system has undergone a complete transformation. From what we can tell, his amygdala will be significantly impaired, and the-"

"English, please."

She glared at the woman. "His long-term memory is most likely gone, and he has lost all capacity for emotion. He'll have no qualms about killing even his own wife and child now. The change is irreversible; there is…no way to save him." Her voice cracked slightly at the end.

"But…you said Sherry was specifically in danger from him," Claire pointed out. "You didn't say 'William is down here', you said 'William will be after _her_ '. Why?"

"Every G-virus bioweapon has the ability to propagate the virus by implanting embryos into other life-forms. The bodies of individuals with genetic codes that differ greatly from the infected will reject the embryos, and merely be killed."

"'Merely'…" Lady muttered to herself.

"However…Sherry is his own flesh and blood. So that possibility becomes non-existent. He will instinctively seek her out, and when he does…"

Both Claire and Lady felt the strong urge to vomit.

A familiar girl's scream rang out.

"Sherry!" Claire and Annette cried out.

"No more time to waste!" Lady yelled. "Let's go!" She led them forward, stopping abruptly before she ran over Mar. "Out of the way!"

He stepped aside without comment. The green "screen" was still hanging over his head, images from earlier repeating. She led them across the walkway, and they went through the door near the large machine.

"…That's not right…" Mar muttered to himself as he replayed the scene again and again. "But…but that can't be…because if he…then that would mean…" His non-injured eye went wide. "No…no no no!" He waved the screen away, and it vanished. "This is bad! Very bad!" He ran in the opposite direction that Lady's group had, through the door she and Claire had come through.

* * *

CHAPTER END

Author's Note: This one took longer than I thought, but it also had more than I thought it would too. In any event, I hope you enjoy it, and that you're all doing well. Big thanks for reading, and thanks also to everyone who has reviewed! Stay cool out there (shouldn't be too hard, you guys are the coolest ;-p).

Until next time!

\- P.S.: I've put up some info for the Devil Arms new to this story in my profile. Let me know what you think!


	19. 18: Destined To Be Malformed

"Finally," Nero said in exasperation. "Helpful to know what those weapons can do."

Kyrie looked over to the intact ladder; the red barrier had not disappeared, but rather shifted to a blue color. She turned to Nero. "It looks like the way forward is still closed. What should we do?"

Before he could respond, a large ball of blue light appeared some distance from the walkway they were on. Nero felt his Devil Bringer pulse in response to it, and promptly looked at his feet. _That's weird…there isn't one of those launchpad things around. So what's that doing here?_

"What is that, Nero?"

He unslung Red Queen from his back, holding it firmly in his left hand. "I've used those things as grappling points before. Grab on; this should take us out of here."

"But what if it's a trap?"

…She did have a point, actually. The timing of the circumstances, however, didn't make sense to him. "I don't think they'd set this trap _after_ I fought a demon. They'd want to set it right before."

"Unless they wanted you to be worn out before they trapped you."

Another really good point. "Maybe. But I'm not seein' any other options right now." _This your doing?_

 _The singular barrier spell I know is dependent on my life force,_ Karkinos responded. _My construct should have broken after my transformation._

 _You only know ONE barrier spell?!_ Ascalon asked in shock.

 _Time learning more spells is time better spent fighting or eating. Indeed, I only NEEDED one spell to hunt._

 _Where's your pride?! You would think-_

 _Would you two cut it out?!_ Nero thought angrily. _You're giving me a migrane already; a little advice wouldn't hurt, ya know._

 _I'm no good with puzzles,_ Karkinos replied simply.

 _Why am I not surprised?_ Ascalon murmured. _…That said, I wouldn't have any idea without further clues._

Rolling his eyes, Nero reached out for the ball of light and pulled. To his surprise, rather than yanking himself towards the light, it was pulled towards him. It landed on his feet, a circle of energy forming under him as, somewhere in the distance in front of him, he heard the faint sound of stone scraping on stone.

A small metal plaque appeared on the railing in front of him. He read the words aloud: "Thou who reaches for the future, beware the false path. Only one who moves with care shall proceed." The instant he'd read it, dozens more blue lights appeared, forming what had to be the strangest puzzle he'd yet encountered. Two of the lights were in front of him, leading up to the rest of the lights branching out in several directions.

"Oh, my," the Order Songstress remarked, studying the multitude of paths that the blue lights formed. "How will you find the correct path in all of those?"

He tapped his foot, thinking. Then he nodded, and the glow of the Devil Bringer became gold again. "Process of elimination." He returned Red Queen to his back and reached for the first light, launching himself upwards off the railing. He grabbed the next light, and as he did, Kyrie saw the first light fade out. He took one of the many paths, the lights disappearing behind him as he did. Unfortunately, he reached a dead end, and when he had, all the lights vanished.

She gasped, but before he could fall too far, the shield of Ascalon had appeared on his back in the form of wings, and he slowly glided back to the walkway. "Well, that's one path down," he said casually, stepping back onto the glowing circle. The lights appeared again, and he started traversing them once more.

This process was repeated several times, Nero gliding back to the walkway after every failed attempt, until finally, on the eighth try, he had reached a room that had been concealed in the cave wall by a large stone door. It looked like some sort of control room; with a huge metal door, several security monitors and a large green button sitting invitingly on one of the several consoles. Shrugging, he pressed it.

There was a clattering sound, and a metal catwalk began to lower from the high cave ceiling. After a few moments, it locked into place, forming a bridge between the room and where he had come from. He trudged back down to Kyrie, and they both walked to the control room to investigate it together. There were a few scattered papers about finances and staffing memos; Nero didn't really care for them, but he figured that if they ever bumped into Jill or Chris again, they might be interested. He stuffed a bunch of them into his pockets.

Kyrie, in the meantime, had been studying the security monitors. There were twenty overall; some watching over areas that looked like the police station, some of areas that seemed to be a strange lab of some kind, and a few of the sewers. In fact, on one of them… "Nero! Come here!"

* * *

Leon and Dante had stepped into a small control room. The far side was dedicated entirely to a door that looked like it might be sealing a vault. On one wall was a control panel and several monitors (all of which were off) and the opposite side was filled with a large desk and coat rack; a number of folders were strewn haphazardly across the desk. The contents of several had spilled out of their proper places, and Dante found himself staring at photos of…himself.

Leon glanced over the pictures of the Devil Hunter as well. "Looks like they were really interested in you. Maybe they wanted to hire a certain somebody?"

"They wish," he muttered, tossing several of the folders in a trash can. "I don't hire out to bigwigs to do their dirty work. Especially not these ones."

As he strode off to look elsewhere, Leon picked up one of the remaining folders. He opened it, and found pictures not only of Dante, but of Lady and two other people that he didn't recognize. They were all clipped to their own individual analysis sheets, with the words "UNKNOWN" scribbled under their pictures. There was very little written on the sheets in the majority of categories (like age, weight, and the like), but at the bottom of each sheet there was a "Threat Analysis" that had been packed with writing. Curiosity overtook him, and he went through Dante's first. _Unknown origin, history, and affiliation. Combat data exceeds human parameters. Skilled in armed and unarmed combat. Believed to be largely responsible for destruction of Arklay facility and T-002 prototype. Conclusion: CAPTURE ALIVE AT ALL COSTS._

Leon waved the folder at him as Dante looked over the buttons near one of the control panels. "Check it out; it's your own wanted poster." He tossed the file to Dante, who skimmed through it.

He grinned. "Just what I always wanted. But now what are you gonna get me for my birthday?" Dante frowned suddenly, rereading a section. "Oh, come on! _Lady?_ You think _Lady's_ the leader?!"

Leon smirked at his outrage. "What, she isn't? I just sort of assumed…"

"Lady's idea of teamwork is yelling 'Duck!' while she blows up everything with missiles!"

"Wow, that doesn't sound familiar at all…"

"Of course not; you haven't had to work with her." He sighed, tucking it away in his coat. "Whatever. Maybe she'll get a good laugh out of it." He looked back to the control panel, tapping a few buttons impatiently. Nothing happened.

Not until a green phone set into the panel began to ring. He raised his eyebrows, picking it up. "You've reached EvilCorp, maker of stupidly evil stuff since 1967."

"Is that any way to greet your friend?" came the annoyed voice from the other side.

"Nero?" he said, surprised. "How the hell did you get this number?!"

" _That's_ your first question? Not 'where have you been', not 'where are you', not even 'are you okay'? How did you ever stay in business with such piss-poor detective skills?"

"Lots of loans. Now how did you manage this one?"

"We're in another security office, and you're on our screen. The number wasn't too hard to find; there was a notepad and-"

"Yeah, I get it. Any way to get from where you are to where we are?"

"There is, actually. You see that massive steel door?"

"I might've noticed it."

"Hit the big yellow button."

He did so, and with a series of loud clunks and whirs, the huge door unlocked and swung outward.

"There's a tunnel between our rooms, or at least that's what the map says. Let's meet up in there." There was a click, and then a dial tone.

He tossed the phone back onto the cradle, sighing. "And they think that Lady's the leader, when someone else is gettin' awfully bossy…" He and Leon walked through the large open door.

…Or rather, they tried to. Mere inches beyond the metal door, there was a translucent blue wall made of writhing blue faces.

"This looks sort of like the one in the library," Leon commented. "What does this one mean?"

Dante gave a huff of irritation. "It means we get to play my least favorite game: waiting."

* * *

Nero and Kyrie had not found a wall stopping them from entering the tunnel. Once they had proceeded past the door, Nero felt the vague sense of déjà vu ripple through him. It wasn't really hard to see why; once more, he had stumbled into a place where something floating and revolving in mid-air was the focal point for the room. Unlike the mansion's study lab, however, a glass tube had been fitted around this object, and there were several consoles and monitoring equipment around the tube. There were a number of bodies scattered around the room as well, the pools of blood around them long dry.

He didn't have to go looking for notes this time; several notes were stacked on the edge of one of the consoles. He grabbed two pages from the top, sharing them with Kyrie as they read together.

 _May 13_ _th_ _, 1998_

 _It's been three years, and it's still hard to believe something like this exists. We'd all heard the ghost stories from the Arklay lab about their magic spear and shields, but when this thing appeared, it was like something straight out of a storybook._

 _Three years of constant testing later, and we still know so very little about it. Monica is convinced that it must be part of a set; she's always been so into astrology, though, so it may be her own bias. Still, I won't very well rule it out; for all we know, she might be right on the money._

 _We've got so many unanswered questions about our beloved research subject. Where did it come from? Why is it here? What can it do? Is it dangerous? Will it suddenly disappear as soon as it appeared? I could go on for pages detailing what we don't know (and my coworkers already have, bless them), but that would be a waste. Instead, I'll just say this: if I wasn't so hopelessly entrenched in Umbrella research, I'd say we should pick up stakes and run as far away from it as we can. Viruses are one thing, but anything that defies physics is something that shouldn't be played with, in my opinion._

 _\- James_

 _July 26_ _th_ _, 1998_

 _Why now, of all times?!_

 _The Arklay lab has been destroyed, and with it countless amounts of work and knowledge. It was a necessary step after the outbreak, but to lose everything so utterly…_

 _But as if losing the Arklay facility weren't enough (and it was, it_ _ **definitely**_ _was), the night it happened the Gemini Seal…activated, for lack of a better term. It started spinning as well as floating, and when Peter got near it…I don't know if he'll ever be the same again. The staff doesn't know what to do; we don't have any psychologists on payroll, it's far too risky to get him treatment, and they keep arguing about whether or not they should treat him as a research subject! How dare they?!_

 _But here we are, just supposed to keep manning our posts like nothing's happened. Bastards. The only precaution they've taken is putting glass around the object now. As if that makes things any better!_

 _All I can do now is hope for the best…_

 _\- James_

Nero looked up, staring at the object encased in the tube. It was floating innocently in the air, as if it hadn't done something to harm anyone at all. He let go of his half of the papers, walking over to the tube.

The so-called "Gemini Seal" looked like a large silver disk with a glowing blue gem set into the middle of it. The gem was in the shape of two swords, and detail on the surface showed two androgynous beings identical to one another holding each sword casually between them. Their faces looked…trusting, as if they were not fighting against one another, but working in unison.

"Gemini, huh?" Nero quirked his head. "Well, it _is_ my sign…" he murmured, smirking.

"I thought you were a Sagittarius."

"Eh, I was just joking; I don't even remember which is which. Besides, I don't buy into that junk anyhow." He looked over his Devil Bringer for a few moments, and then delivered a solid punch to the glass. It shattered easily, leaving the object free for the taking. He reached out with his left hand.

 _Wait!_ Karkinos yelled suddenly. _Don't touch-_

Before he could withdraw his hand, the object had dropped into it. He stumbled back, startled, gripping it in his hand.

A gentle blue light formed around his left hand as a tremor went through it, and a voice was whispering something in his mind, but he could barely make out the words.

 _Those…Fire shall be…once more. By the third…begun, by the…ended. The Unseen…longer…silent. All…oblivion…dark…returns._

They did not repeat; even so, they felt familiar somehow. Hadn't he heard something like those words before…?

"Urrr…"

Several of the bodies were rising now, surrounding him and Kyrie. They were no normal zombies, either; their skin was bright red, and their fingernails long and sharp. This wasn't going to be easy…

He felt his left arm throb powerfully, as if a massive heart had beat inside it, and as two of the Crimson Heads began to close in on him from either side, he reached both arms out without thinking.

His hands gripped the heads of the zombies five feet before they'd reached them, spinning around in a circle and sending the others flying; Kyrie had to duck to avoid his movements. He brought his hands together, and several feet in front of him, he had a glimpse of the two zooming towards each other, held by something bright, before they'd been crushed into something that resembled paste more than human beings.

He pulled Red Queen from his back, noting vaguely in the back of his mind how light it suddenly seemed, before bringing it down on an approaching zombie, splitting it stem to stern. He turned to check on Kyrie, who had just managed to nail another of the red zombies right in the eyes with crossbow bolts, stopping it in its tracks. _Four left!_ Even better, two were straight in front of him. He gave his trusty blade a few quick revs and sliced horizontally at them while pulling the trigger.

Instead of carrying him forward at them like he'd planned, he saw his blade fly forward, sweeping in a wide arc and bisecting the creatures from afar, roasting their already vivid flesh before retracting to where it had started.

He didn't have time to question it. He replaced the sword on his back, facing the last two enemies. _Well…if I'm right…_ He reached both arms out for them.

It was just as he'd suspected. Two ghostly arms shot forward, grabbing the screeching monsters. He smashed one into the ground, then the other, and then pulled both up to smash them down together. They had been completely destroyed; not even a head on them to remove.

After glancing around the room to make sure there were no more, he looked at his arms. The reptilian skin and glow of his Devil Bringer was just as it had been before.

And a mirror image of it was now on his left hand as well.

He stared between them, shocked. _…Good thing it didn't break my rings, I guess._ He looked up in Kyrie's direction, and then he felt…strange. It was as if a tension that he hadn't even noticed had been present…suddenly released; almost like how he felt whenever he left his Devil Trigger. The sudden shock of it made him so dizzy that it actually sent him to his knees. Clutching his forehead with his left hand, he said "Kyrie…are you okay?"

She turned towards him. "I'm okay, but you sound-" She froze, her hands going up to her mouth. "Nero! Your arm!"

He would have nodded, had his head not been spinning quite so badly. "Yeah…I got another one. I guess it'll take some getting used to…"

Her hands lowered, and she looked puzzled. "I don't understand what you mean. Nero, look at your arm." Surprisingly, she almost seemed excited now.

He removed his left hand, blinking slightly. "Okay, but what's so-" Nero broke off. His left arm was no longer a glowing, reptilian appendage, but smooth and soft-skinned as usual. He blinked. _But it was just…it looked exactly like…wait!_ Instantly, he raised his right hand up to his face.

It was not glowing. It was not scaly. Like its opposite, it also showed human skin. He stood up immediately. "Kyrie…" Wasting no time at all, he strode over to her and laid his right hand gently on her cheek. It was warm and soft, and she held her own hand over it, beaming at him. "I…I'm…" He removed his hand slowly, looking over both hands. Something clicked in the back of his mind, and he reached behind his back to draw Red Queen. It wasn't as easy as it had been a few moments ago, but he could still lift it off his back without any trouble. He replaced it, looking at his hands again. _It's not…gone, is it? That feeling…is it like Devil Trigger now, where I can turn it on and off?_

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of loud shattering behind him. He spun around on instinct, and as he did, there was a strange throb in his arms. He glanced down at them; they had both become like the Devil Bringer once more.

"Well, look at you!" came the voice of Dante as he and another man walked into the tunnel with them. "Looks like you've picked up something new while we were apart."

Nero shook his head. "Just now, actually. I grabbed something they were studying, and it did this to my Devil Bringer." He held up both arms to show the red-coated man.

"Huh. I guess it's a Double Bringer now," he remarked. "Nifty. Hey, Kyrie! Nice bowgun," he said appreciatively.

She smiled politely at him. "Thank you. It's good to see you again; shall you introduce your friend to us?"

"Sure, why not. Leon, this is Nero and Kyrie. Kyrie's the cute one, Nero's the stubborn one. Ah, before you argue!" He pulled out the folder, flinging it over to Nero. "There's proof."

Nero studied it, eyebrow raised. "Well, this thing's clearly fulla crap. They think I'm your son, for starters." He tossed it back. "Yo, Leon."

"Nice to meet you. I'm with the R.P.D." the man in the flak jacket said.

"Well, now that we're all caught up," Dante said cheerfully. "Let's get-"

" _Die…"_

"…ready for another fight." He turned to look at the creature that had entered the tunnel from the opposite direction they'd come in.

It looked similar to the pipe-swinging mutant from before, but this one's shoulders had been beefed up equally. Its skin was different as well; a purpled gray the color of rotting lilacs, and covered in a mucus-like film. A scratched and burnt gas mask was set into its frame where its face should have been, flanked by two large, yellow eyeballs and with a third poking out of a missing chunk in the top of the mask. Its rib area looked almost like some kind of shell, and the tattered remains of combat pants were dangling from one of its four legs. The legs themselves were oddly positioned, with two identical to a human's legs and two growing out of the back of the creature's waist like fleshless tails. Each of its hands were hinged like a Venus flytrap's with ten clawed fingers, and inside the "mouth" of its right hand was another yellow eye. _"Die…"_ it hissed again from behind the gas mask.

"Doesn't this guy ever give up?!" Nero snapped. He revved Red Queen until it was rumbling on his back and charged forwards, slicing right at the monster. Not only was his strike deflected by the bony armor of its ribcage, but the scorching flames actually rolled off the thing and onto the ground, where they sputtered and died. _Now it's fireproof?_ "You gotta be kidding me!"

Dante and Leon moved away from each other, the latter pouring several bullets from his trusty pistol into the thing's chest. The bullets, however, were deflected into the floor only inches from Nero's feet. "…Well, someone's been hitting the gym."

"Would you watch where you're pointing that thing?" Nero growled.

"Sorry!"

He jumped back as the monster's hands snapped at him like snakes, thinking quickly. _It's slimy, bullets are no good, and ever since the first fight, Red Queen's kept bouncing off. What can take this thing down now?_

… _Aren't you forgetting someone?_ said an eager voice in his head. _My power is yours, remember? Let's tear this thing to shreds!_

The glow of his Devil Bringers shifted to red as the dual scythes appeared in his hands. He sliced forwards with one, cutting cleanly through one of the monster's outstretched hands before slashing with the other across its shoulder. It bellowed, reaching for him with its other arm, but the first scythe came up to cut a deep gouge in its elbow.

Kyrie watched the fight while holding her crossbow ready, both impressed and slightly frustrated. It would be tough getting a good shot in when it could deflect projectiles; still, she had to do something to help…

The monster stumbled backwards but recovered quickly thanks to its additional legs, snarling with anger and pain. To Nero's surprise, there were almost no visible wounds on the hulking brute beyond a few scratches, and those were closing even as he looked at them. _It's healing faster than before! Is it actually getting stronger with each fight? Or is it learning somehow?_ There was plenty of blood from his attacks; if nothing else, he could still weaken it until it couldn't fight anymore.

The monster swiped at him with its hands. He sidestepped them with inches to spare. When he did, he felt something within him ripple, becoming more eager. _Yes…a narrow miss gets the tension higher! How delightful!_

 _Don't backseat me, dammit!_ he snapped at Karkinos. He dodged another two swipes, feeling the rippling increase; no doubt it was her bloodlust trying to overcome him.

Leon made a motion to Dante, and they both crept behind the creature. Dante held up five fingers, and Nero saw him slowly counting down. He nodded, putting some distance and preparing himself. At "zero", Dante pointed to Kyrie, who fired at the monster's mask. Her arrows managed to crack the left one of the mask's red lenses and impale the eyeball next to it; as it roared in anger, Dante yelled "NOW!"

The three of them lunged at the creature; Dante holding Rebellion in front of him, Leon charging with the bayonet of his shotgun, and Nero bringing both scythes down overhead. They struck as one, Nero's scythes biting into the monster's shoulders, Rebellion and Leon's shotgun impaled into its back. Dante withdrew his sword and stepped back, smiling happily. "See? Teamwork!"

Nero yanked the scythes free and leapt back as well. Leon pulled the trigger of his shotgun, pulling it free as the buckshot was embedded deep into their enemy's flesh. He hurried backwards, a small smile on his face as well.

 _Now I'm a little excited…_ Karkinos murmured. Nero could see small rivulets of crimson fluid running along the edge of the scythe blades. _Let your blood boil, and drown in the glee of battle!_

He didn't, exactly, but there was still an eager smirk on his face as he launched at the monster again. He tore into the enemy over and over again with Karkinos, its wounds healing steadily slower now, blood coating the chest of the creature nearly as much as the floor. With a shout of laughter, he finished by slicing the scythes together vertically, their combined strength cutting deeply enough to tear a hunk of the left side of the creature's mask off. It fell to the floor with a clatter, the already cracked lens breaking into several shards of red-tinted glass. Behind the mask was an eye that looked completely normal; it stared blankly back at him as its owner trembled slightly.

The mutated monster collapsed after another blast from Leon's shotgun, and its single visible eye almost seemed to be pleading. _"Death…cannot…die..."_ it groaned. Their opponent sprawled on the ground, letting out a final rattle of breath.

Nero sighed with relief, his own breath beginning to slow. He released Karkinos, and both the scythes and his Devil Bringers disappeared in a flash of red light. As had happened twice before, something clattered out of the creature's tattered pants; this time, however, it was a fully-assembled pistol. He reached for it, but Leon had picked it up before he could.

"This looks familiar," he muttered, extracting the clip and unchambering the gun before studying it. After a moment, he frowned. "Well, with one extra bonus…" He examined the laser sight attached to the front with interest. "Never seen one of these for the VP70 before. Shame I can't take it off without a screwdriver…I can't fit an extra pistol anywhere on me, and I don't want to throw my own away."

Dante sighed, holding out his hand wordlessly.

"…Really? Well…thanks!" He handed the gun to his partner, who tucked it into the folds of his coat.

He gave a curt nod to Leon, his eyes fixed on Nero. "Looks like you got yourself another Devil Arm. Where'd you pick that one up?"

The Holy Knight gave a nervous grin, briefly glancing in Leon's direction. "Well…uh…"

"Where is Lady?" Kyrie asked him, a worried look on her face. "Was she sent somewhere else as well?"

Dante blinked in surprise. "Actually…that's a good point. We should let her know we found you guys. Leon?"

* * *

The three women burst through the door, running through the drainage tunnels beyond. Claire noticed offhandedly that the walls were marked with deep gouges and scorch marks every few feet. Despite that (or perhaps because of it), with every step, Annette's face became both paler and more determined. After what seemed like hours to Claire just to turn three corners, they reached a large dumping area. Sitting atop a mound of trash was a glinting silver medal, a spray can, and…

"SHERRY!" Annette and Claire yelled at the same time.

Small ripples formed on the surface of the water as something came towards them. It crawled out into the tunnel and hissed at them. Unless she was mistaken, it looked to Claire like a baby alligator. The water continued to ripple, and it was joined by a second of its kind, then a third. They began to advance on the group.

"Get out of my way!" Annette snarled, firing her pistol at one of the small reptiles. Claire joined her a moment later, firing at another. Their bullets put down the targets after a handful of shots, two of the young beasts finished. The third looked between them, and suddenly its hissing stopped. It retreated slightly, until it had just reached the edge of the water.

Claire felt a small stirring of pity within her. Dangerous or not, they were still killing small animals; ones that were probably lost and confused. Even so, they had to save Sherry…

The miniature alligator started to make a squeaky, croaking noise with its mouth closed. Claire quirked her head, lowering her gun slightly. "What's it doing?" It repeated its strange croak for a few more moments, and then gave them a final hiss before jumping back into the water.

Annette made to run to Sherry, but Claire held her back. "Let me go! We need to-"

"Something's wrong…" she murmured. "Why did it make that noise and run away instead of attacking?"

"But Sherry-!"

"I understand a mother wanting to save her daughter, but we shouldn't just…" She gasped. _Daughter. Mother._ _Mother!_ "Get back!" she yelled at them, outright pulling Annette back into the tunnel away from the dumping room…and not a moment too soon. With a loud roar, a massive scaly head shot out of the water and into the tunnel. They retreated rapidly as they looked upon the massive alligator in the tunnel with them. "It must be mutated!" she exclaimed. "No normal alligator could be that size!"

"The t-Virus…" Annette breathed.

"Didn't you idiots have enough test animals?!" Lady growled as they continued backing up. She drew her handgun. "Or were rats just not good enough?"

"This isn't one of ours!" Annette shot back, raising her own handgun. "What would we have to gain by testing on alligators?"

"Don't give me that! I saw your damn sharks in that mansion!" She fired once at the creature's eyes, but missed; what was more, it bounced off the creature's skin at an angle. "My rounds won't penetrate its skin; aim for the mouth or the eyes!"

They prepared to do so, but as they backed up further into the tunnel, Claire saw a blinking light out of the corner of her eye. Sitting in a small alcove was…what looked like several scraps of twisted metal and a large scorch mark. She turned her attention back to the advancing creature, forcing the odd disappointment she felt to the furthest corner of her mind that she could. "We're running out of room!" she yelled.

Lady gave a great scoff. "I hate wasting this on something like you…Get back, both of you!" As they did, she swung Kalina Ann around, pointing it directly at the creature's face. _My last missile…_ She ran back until a barred gate prevented any further retreat. _Here we go…_ The launcher began to rumble slightly, a puff of smoke emitting from the exhaust at the end.

"What are you doing? Hurry up and shoot!" Annette ordered.

 _Not yet…this needs just enough force…_ It rumbled more, exhaust pouring constantly out now.

"Lady, now!" Claire yelled.

The gator's mouth had opened again, and it intended to eat her whole. But with a huge shudder, her launcher began to spit flames from the exhaust; it was finally ready.

"EAT IT!" she yelled, firing a missile directly into the monster's gaping mouth. It bit down instinctively, and before it had time to reconsider such a poor choice, a massive explosion shook the tunnel as the top half of the creature's mouth was blown off with amazing force, coating the tunnel roof with blood and various other bits.

She reslung the launcher onto her back, sighing. "If this place wasn't falling apart, I'd make boots out of you. With all the leather you have…"

Her radio crackled to life. "Leon to Lady. Do you read?"

Unclipping the radio from her belt, she said "Loud and clear. We just got done wiping out an alligator down here."

"Sounds like the urban legends had some truth after all. Is everybody still in good shape?"

"Just peachy. We found Sherry again, and bumped into her mother as well."

He let out a sigh of relief. "Finally, some good news! Speaking of, I called you because we found your friends. Nero and Kyrie, I think it was?"

Her features relaxed considerably. "Well done. When we get out of here, tell Dante he owes us a pizza each."

"I heard that!" came an indignant voice over the radio.

"Roger that. Leon out." She could almost hear the officer's grin over the channel.

"Don't 'roger' that! Tell her to pony up for her own damn-" There was a click, and her radio went silent.

"All right, you two. Let's get moving. And you," she ordered, pointing a finger at Annette, "you can tell us the quickest way out of this stinking city."

The woman's eyes were full of loathing, but she nodded all the same. "Of course."

With that taken care of, they began the slow, tedious process of pushing their way past the corpse of the giant alligator.

* * *

CHAPTER END

ITEM FILE

New! Gemini Seal

\- A talisman featuring twin warriors filled with mysterious energy. It can bestow new power upon those who hold it.

* * *

OMAKE: The Origin Of The Nightmare

Mar snapped his fingers, and the cloud formed into a bright rectangle. "Let's see how a city died." He turned around to look at it as images flashed across it, and the others watched, transfixed.

 _A scientist was reaching his arms into a sealed box with rubber gloves set into them. "Yes…finally, we'll have access to power beyond our wildest dreams…" He moved the gloves to a pair of joysticks, operating two mechanical arms beyond a wall of glass._

 _Each of the arms grabbed a sterile vial from the shelves on the wall. He took his hands back out of the box, tapping a few buttons on a nearby panel. "Risks are part of science, but…even so, doing something this strictly forbidden is almost overwhelming…"_

 _Two liquid containers lowered, pouring dark fluid into each of the vials. The liquids bubbled and hissed. The scientist took a deep breath. "Okay…time to make history…" He reinserted his arms into the sealed box, and took the controls once more, moving the arms closer together…_

Claire gasped. "No…he couldn't…"

Annette's face was a mixture of horror and awe. "William…you didn't…"

Lady's mouth hung open. "He wouldn't…he wouldn't dare do it…"

 _The arms holding the vials hovered over a large, empty beaker. The scientist was covered in sweat now. With a careful nudge, the arms tipped their vials, pouring the liquids together in the beaker below._

"YOU MONSTERS!" Claire screamed. "How could you?!"

Lady was pointing her pistol at Annette. "So Umbrella just had to do it, huh? No taboos are sacred to you, are they?!"

Annette was pale with revulsion. "I would never do such a thing! William…what have you done?!"

Mar's face was blank with shock. "He actually did it. So that's how the G-Virus was made…" He gave a shudder.

"No wonder no one ever mixes Coke and Pepsi."

* * *

Author's Note: And another chapter finished! I know this one's early, but I wanted to do something surprising for my wonderful readers, and this was the only thing I could think of. Thank you so much to everyone who's read the story, and whatever you think of it, all feedback is welcome and encouraged. See you next month!


	20. 19: A State of Emergency

Claire wasn't sure how long it had taken, but they finally managed to squeeze past the corpse of the massive reptile.

Just as they had, she heard a strange noise from Lady. She turned around abruptly; the woman in white was holding a hand in front of her mouth. "…Now isn't the time to be doing zombie impressions. Better than a certain someone's try, though."

She shook her head, removing her hand. "That wasn't it at all."

Lady blinked several times, stifling another yawn, and Claire recognized the signs at last. "You're exhausted."

"Don't be ridiculous."

But Claire had seen the expression on the faces of her fellow students often enough (especially from 8 a.m. classes) to know it when she saw it. "Nothing to be ashamed of; we're all tired after fighting so long. We'll get out of here soon, don't worry."

Annette eyed the missile launcher strapped to Lady's back, but didn't comment. They continued forwards until they came to a large steel door that had come down, blocking them off from the dumping area. With the flip of a switch, the door rose, and a single baby alligator crawled out of the water, darting past them completely. They watched it scuttle away, and after a few seconds, they heard it begin croaking pitifully.

Claire sighed, pushing aside the sympathy stirring within her and stepping down into the room. The others followed, and once they had, the large metal door shut behind them. They hurried over to Sherry, Annette picking her up. "Sherry? Sherry, honey, wake up…please…"

From somewhere else in the sewer, they could hear the echoes of a roar. _"Sherry!"_ Annette flinched, but her gaze stayed locked on her daughter.

Sherry opened her eyes blearily, her gaze unfocused. "Wh-where…" She blinked, and seemed to come to her senses. "Mom! Claire! Lady! You're all okay!"

Lady gave her a simple nod before picking up the medal beside her, while Claire gave her a warm smile. "Thank goodness you're all right as well; we've been worried. But we need to go now, okay?"

The girl gave a sudden shudder. "Ow…my stomach…it hurts."

Her mother held her very tightly, so that her daughter couldn't see the look of horror that fell over the women's faces. _We're too late…_ Claire thought. "It must be the air in here," she lied, sharing a knowing look with Annette. _Don't panic; keep calm._ "Let's get you out of here; that should help."

Annette carried Sherry over to a raised platform at the edge of the pit, setting her on it. They could see a ladder leading up; no doubt Annette was taking them to an exit the quickest way possible. She stepped up onto the platform herself, but just as she had…

A blood-red spiderweb of energy formed, cutting Lady and Claire off from the other two.

* * *

In that same instant, several creatures had begun pouring into the tunnel with the other four. There were three Blades, two Lickers, and five creatures that looked like the fly monsters Dante and Nero had seen in the mansion, but were missing wings and had long needles for mouths.

"Can't we get _out_ of this damn tunnel already?!" Nero growled.

"Sounds like someone's backing down before we've even started," Dante teased, drawing his shotgun. "Well then stand back, and I'll take 'em alone."

"You wish!" He reached out for one of the not-fly monsters with his right arm, the Devil Bringer pulling it up close. It spread its many legs wide, attempting to grab him, but doing so left it wide open for a Buster uppercut. Rather than attacking or throwing the misshapen creature, however, the arm held it in midair, hissing and writhing madly. With his other arm he drew Blue Rose, channeling power into it. Having heard the noise, the two Lickers came scuttling towards him, but with a smirk, he fired the empowered shot straight through the exposed brain of one. The other leapt at him, but crashed into the suspended bug monster as he brought it around to block.

Kyrie and Leon were facing off against the rest of the insect creatures. Leon had his shotgun in hand, and blasted one away when it got too close. "So, are you two friends of Father Christmas there?" he asked her loudly over the report of his weapon.

She fired three bolts at one of the creatures, pinning one of its arms to its chest in the process. "We are." Leon covered her while she reloaded. "You said you were a police officer?"

"Yep." He fired another time as the creature from before rushed at him again, and this time it stayed down, a pool of green blood spreading around it. "First day on the job, too. Lucky me, huh?"

Her next shot only just managed to hit one of the monsters in the head with two arrows, but it was enough to put it down for good. "I suppose so; we're here to help."

He smiled, feeding another couple of shells into his weapon. "True enough."

Dante had hurled Rebellion forward like a javelin, pinning one of the Blades to a wall as he switched to Alastor. "Just like old times, huh?" He batted aside a flurry of claw darts and launched forward in a blur, stabbing the lightning blade with full momentum. It knocked one of them back, and the other brought its shield up, backing up slowly. Dante snapped his fingers, and Rebellion removed itself from the third Blade, flying back to his hand like a buzzsaw. "Let's have some fun!" He ran at the other two blades, countering each of their attacks with both swords in a frenzy of motion.

The third Blade, having recovered from its wound, snarled and leapt past Nero, who was busy slamming the bug-creature into the last Licker and facing the opposite direction. It made a beeline for Kyrie, but Leon stepped in front of her, taking careful aim and firing when it was inches away from him. It caused tremendous damage, but at a cost; the creature's claws shot forward right before Leon's shot, stabbing into his right shoulder all the way through his protective armor while slashing great chunks of material out of the rest of his vest. He yelled in pain, but wasted no time in firing a second shot at point-blank range, with Kyrie leaning around him to hit the demon in the back with three arrows at once. The damage of the combined attacks was too much for it, and the demon collapsed, snarling with its final breath.

"Leon!" Kyrie yelled as Leon dropped into a crouch, grimacing with pain.

Nero turned at the sound of her voice, and before he could call out to her, he noticed that the last two bug-things were advancing on her. "Don't even think about it!" he roared, reaching both Devil Bringers out to grab them. Strangely, while the right one launched forwards without delay, the left one seemed slower, almost hesitant. It still reached out for the monster, catching it about a half-second after his right one had caught its intended prey.

He squeezed his right hand, and the ghostly arm squashed its captured bug. Dropping its remains, he pulled in the final monster, rearing back his right fist as it struggled and punching through its chest. His fist shot through the monster, and its writhing ceased instantly. He dropped the unmoving insect, a disgusted look on his face.

Dante, meanwhile, had destroyed the helmets and shields of his enemies, but had not yet bothered to actually kill them, preferring to keep blocking their slashes and stabs with his swords. _If I time this just right, this'll be great!_ His moment finally came as they each jumped to one of his sides in unison. _Perfect!_ He readied both swords before flinging them in an X-shaped motion. Both Devil Arms spun in rapid orbits around him, slicing into the demons over and over again. He caught them after a few seconds, stabbing outwards with each and driving them straight into the brains of the reptilian demons. They each gave strangled hisses before their bodies began to dissolve, and Alastor disappeared as he replaced Rebellion on his back. "I call that one 'Air Traffic'." He paused, frowning. "…Might need some work."

"Would you pay attention for once?!"

He blinked at Nero's voice. "What's up? You wanted to take one, too? Sorry; first come, first served."

"Not that!" He stared right back at Dante's disbelieving look. "…Well, a little, but more important than that, think about what you do! Leon's injured, thanks to you!"

Dante turned, looking at the R.P.D officer clutching the wound on his shoulder with his combat armor in tatters. "You look like you just took on a blender," he muttered. "Wait, how is that one my fault? He has a gun, he can defend himself."

"Not everyone with a gun can fight like us! If you hadn't-!"

Leon held up his left hand, and Nero broke his tirade off. "We can argue later. For now…I'll need patching up. I can't fight well with a wound like this."

* * *

"Claire!" Sherry yelled, trying in vain to push past the web of energy.

"Annette, take Sherry and run!" Claire yelled, readying her grenade launcher.

The scientist blinked, staring at the web in both confusion and fascination. "What is this?"

"Get out of here!" Lady snapped. "Unless you want Sherry to be demon food!"

The warning had snapped her out of her trance. She took her daughter by the hand, pulling them over towards the ladder. The girl struggled, still reaching towards the web. "We can't leave without-"

"Don't worry," the woman in red said, turning back and giving her a comforting smile. "We won't be long, and we'll all meet up later. Now go!"

They made their way up the ladder, Sherry pausing briefly to look at her and Lady guiltily before climbing up the rest of the way.

They didn't have to wait long for their opponents; mere seconds after the two Birkins had disappeared, two Blades leapt into the dumping area. Claire and Lady had only just begun firing when they were joined by three winged creatures who seemed to be made out of solid blood, and two Crimson Heads. "Damn it, isn't that enough already?!" Lady growled, taking aim for the Bloodgoyles. "Claire, you take the lizards, I'll get the flying ones!"

 _Easier said than done!_ Claire thought desperately. She ducked under the leaping swipe of one Blade and fired an incendiary grenade right into the chest of another; it was milliseconds too late to block the explosive, and shrieked as a carpet of flames spread over its torso. She reloaded quickly and then jumped to the side as it lunged furiously at her, facing down both the demons. As one, the claws on their left hands began to tremble. _What the…?!_ They pointed their claws at her, and with a burst of blood, they shot at her like arrows. Claire dived away from them, but at such close range and with so little warning time, she caught several in the chest. She rolled to her feet (not a pleasant prospect, with the knee-deep sewer water), ignoring the projectiles poking out of her chest and firing an acid grenade at the two.

It smashed into them with a hiss, and to her great surprise, it seemed to hurt them far more than the incendiary round had; the already scorched demon fell to its knees, writhing in pain and anger, while the other clawed at its own skin in a desperate attempt to scrape off the acid. She could see the helmets melting before her very eyes.

Lady, during all this, had pelted the flying demons with enough shots that the three had turned to stone. Holstering her now empty pistol, she twisted away from a Crimson Head as it swiped at her head, launching forwards with Kalina Ann. She barreled into one of the petrified Bloodgoyles, pinning it to the wall with enough force to shatter it completely. She swiped at another with the bulk of her rocket launcher several times, heaping enough punishment on the frozen being to crumble it just as the third had regained its fluid form once more.

She cursed to herself, hurriedly un-strapping the shotgun from her launcher as she slung it on her back again. With two blasts, it was stone once more. She didn't have time to destroy it completely, however, because the Crimson Heads had charged at her again.

She ducked under the swipe of one, bringing the shotgun up to blast the second through the chin. She kicked it away, spinning around as the creature attempted to slash at her exposed back. She fired a shot into its chest, and it fell backwards, motionless, as she turned her attention to the Bloodgoyle. It had once more regained movement.

The first Blade had begun melting away, and the second lashed out blindly, attempting to catch Claire by swiping in all directions. The acid was no longer active, but the wound seemed to have trouble healing; the skin was raw and uneven where the liquid had splashed, and looked very tender. She retreated, returning her grenade launcher to rest behind her back as she drew her knife. _Wait for just the right moment…not yet…_ The demon clawed empty air in her direction, and then turned to slash in the other. _NOW!_ She leapt at it, bringing the knife down with all her strength.

It plunged into the demon's exposed head, and she kicked off it as it tumbled forward. It tried to push itself to its feet, but the blood pouring out of its head seemed to have weakened it immensely. It fell on its stomach, screeching as its skin began to bubble and liquefy.

Lady had finally managed to turn the demon back to its immobile form, and with nothing else to distract her, she brought Kalina Ann down over it with a mighty crash. The statue-like shape broke into countless pieces, and she let out a sigh of relief. "Finally…" She turned to look at Claire, catching her breath, and saw the last of the Blades melting. "Nice work."

"Thanks. It looks like they're really weak to the acid." Claire looked up as the web of energy broke and disappeared. She then looked down at the claws embedded in her armor, and with a frown pulled them out. It seemed that Miss Redfield had been somewhat lucky; her body armor had just managed to stop the projectiles from piercing her skin, but the armor itself was full of holes. Another hit, and it would be in pieces. "No time to waste; let's regroup with the other two."

Lady felt a curious sensation on her ankle. She looked down, and with a yell of irritation, kicked away the still-moving Crimson Head. She blasted it in the head, and then stepped on it for good measure. "And stay down!"

Claire turned to look at the source of the commotion, drawing her own pistol. Seeing that Lady had finished the undead creature off, she lowered her pistol, but froze in shock as she looked at her ally. "Lady…you're…"

* * *

After discarding what was left of Leon's vest, the next order of business was doing what they could for his wound. After moving to the security office that he and Dante had come from, Kyrie sat him in a chair. "You'll need to take your shirt off," she said matter-of-factly.

"U-um…"

"Yeah, I know," Dante said consolingly. "It's embarrassing, I get it. Having studs like us around makes you feel inadequate. But it's cool; we won't judge."

Leon snorted, removing his tactical shirt. "I'll bet you were a barrel of laughs in the locker room of your high school."

"Uh…yeah, sure. Let's go with that one."

"Actually, it wasn't you I was worried about." He looked at Kyrie apologetically. "I don't mean to make you uncomfortable…"

She shook her head. "It's a matter of your health. Besides…" Kyrie gave a shy glance in Nero's direction out of the corner of her eyes.

"Already got eyes on someone, huh?" He set his shirt on the table, and his radio atop it. "Well, I'm happy for you."

She gave him a nod of thanks. "Now, we don't have any disinfectant, so this might not be the most hygienic."

"The herbs double as disinfectant; apparently genetic engineering did something right for once."

Dante gave an irritated sigh, pulling several things from his pockets and handing them to Kyrie. She looked them over; they were several plants of different colors. "…Very well, then." She pulled the note from her pocket and began handling the herbs as directed. "Well, Leon, do you have someone you're interested in?"

Dante made a cough that sounded more like a word, but Kyrie couldn't quite make it out, especially since she was in the middle of tearing a strip of her robes off to use as a makeshift bandage. Leon, however, seemed to understand it, because he frowned and responded hurriedly, "No, no, it's not like that."

"Aw, c'mon!" Dante said, grinning. "What's the point in hiding it when it's life or death?"

Leon rolled his eyes as Kyrie applied the mixed herbs to the wound. He gritted his teeth, inhaling with a hiss of breath. "If you say so." She began tying the cloth across him to hold the herbs securely in place. "Although…" Leon frowned. "…even if it was like that; and it isn't! But if it was, she's probably already got someone."

"Well, why don't we ask her?" he said brightly. "Next radio call."

"What?! No!"

"Shy? No worries, I can ask for you." Right on cue, the radio began to crackle. "Well, look at that." He strode over to the radio, ignoring the officer's protests and picking it up. Leon made to get up, but Kyrie had not yet finished tying the bandage and pushed him back down. "You've reached Dante."

"Dante, this is Claire."

"Well hey there. Leon says he has a question for you." He grinned as Leon began waving frantically at him.

"…It'll have to wait. You both need to get here fast."

He raised an eyebrow at her urgent yet quiet tone. "What's the rush? You find some kinda super-mega-zombie or-"

"It's Lady. She's been bitten."

The grin vanished from his face instantly, replaced by a completely empty expression so out of place on him that for a split-second, Leon thought he'd become a different person. "Where are you?" he said in a flat voice.

"We just got out of a sewer dumping area just past a drainage tunnel, not far from some kind of bridge elevator thing. We've taken so many twists and turns to get here I honestly don't know how else to guide you."

He thought for a moment, then gave a determined nod. "Get her somewhere safe. We'll be there in five minutes or less." He looked at Leon, who was hurriedly pulling his shirt back on. "You good to go?"

"Definitely. Let's hurry."

They had arrived a surprisingly short time later; Leon guessed that Dante had taken more notice of their surroundings than he'd let on. They found Claire and Lady waiting for them (the latter with a torn cloth wrapped around her ankle), as well as Sherry and a very familiar looking woman. Neither he nor Dante had forgotten her in the least bit, and he drew his pistol on her without hesitation. "You shot me."

Annette glared at him, waiting for a chance to draw her own pistol. "I wasn't aiming for you. It seems you've just come from a worse battle in any case."

"You still shot me!"

"Leon, don't!" Sherry yelled, tugging down on his arms. "That's my mom!"

He hesitated for a moment, but finally flipped on the safety before reluctantly holstering his pistol. "…Later, then. But I won't forget."

Claire looked between the two that Dante and Leon had brought, but shook her head. "Introductions can wait, too. Annette, do you have something that we can use to cure her?"

The scientist thought for a moment. "There is a viral inhibitor that can work, provided it is administered before too much time has passed, but my lab might not stock all the proper ingredients. Even so, we need to head in that direction anyway, considering…" She broke off, but her eyes darted in Sherry's direction.

"Right. Lady, can you walk on it?"

The woman in white rolled her eyes. "It's a bite, not a broken bone. I'll be fine."

"Where do we get the ingredients?" Dante asked, his face set. "And how many do we need?"

"There aren't many, but due to their nature I can't say for certain where to find each one specifically. They might be strewn across the city for all we know, not to mention prep time and-"

"Across the city?!" Nero said, outraged. "We don't have time for that! How the hell are we supposed to pick up a list of random stuff quickly if we have to search the whole damn city?"

"Well, what do you want me to say?!" she snapped back. "Unless you can instantly know where something is and then appear there, that's what we'll have to do!"

Dante's eyes narrowed. "Understood. Cover your ears." He looked around at them; they hadn't moved. "Fine, lose your eardrums."

He took a deep breath, and just as they'd put their hands over their ears, he yelled out at the top of his voice "MAR! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE BEFORE LADY DIES!" The sheer volume of his words shook the walls around them, and Sherry screamed in fright.

A man in a gray cloak dropped onto the opposite end of the walkway from the shadowed ceiling. One of his eyes had been blackened, but it seemed to be about half-healed. "Sheesh, threatening her life like that just to draw me out? A little beneath you, don't-"

He pointed Ebony at the man in grey. "She's been bitten by a zombie. Fix it. Now."

Mar gaped at him. "That's…a pretty feeble lie, even for-"

 _BANG!_

He flinched at the chip of concrete that flew out of the wall mere inches from his head.

" _Now_ ," Dante repeated.

He blinked several times, and then looked at Lady's bandaged ankle. "But…but that's impossible…she can't be…" He held up his hands as the Devil Hunter pointed his gun once more. "Okay, okay! I never said I wouldn't help! We can cure her; all she needs is Daylight!"

Nero frowned. "I don't think sunlight is going to do any-"

"No, no, _Daylight_!" he insisted, waving a hand impatiently. "It's the name of a cure for the t-Virus. It only needs three ingredients, it's easy to make, and best of all, once you've got everything, it only takes a few minutes to mix."

Annette looked shocked. "That's not AT1521…who made this 'Daylight'?"

He ignored her. "Let's see…the blood, the poison, the base…yeah, okay. I know where to get the vaccine's base, so you'll need to find the other ingredients. You'll need the blood of a creature infected with the same strain she is, first."

"One of the fast red ones," Lady supplied.

"Okay, so Crimson Head blood. Try to get as pure a sample as possible. The other one is V-Poison, which should be in an insect hive, provided they've got some sort of natural toxin. Bees or wasps should do. Once you've got everything, we'll need to meet in the lab to synthesize it."

"Wait, we can't use any of these?" Dante asked, holding up several herbs. "They cure poison and heal wounds."

"No, no, those won't work against _viruses_. They…they…" His eyes went wide. He pointed a trembling finger at one of the plants. "Wh-where did you get that?"

Dante looked briefly at the plant he was pointing at. _What, does he not like the color yellow?_ "A bathroom in the R.P.D. But if it won't work, shouldn't you get moving?"

His mouth dropped open. "'Bathroom'?! What the…I…" He shook his head. "Just head for the lab! The sooner we get those cures made, the better! It'll take me a while on my end, so stay in the lab once you're there." He raised one of his hands, but paused. "And I guess…try not to exert yourself too much if you can help it." Mar snapped his fingers, and fell through a shadow at his feet, which disappeared as soon as he had.

"Did he say 'cures'?" Kyrie asked, looking around at everyone. "No one else has been bitten, have they?" Claire and Annette shook their heads a little too quickly.

The very large group followed Annette's lead until they reached a large gap. Spying a glint of something, Nero vaulted over the gap to the walkway at the other side. There was a gold medal next to a man that looked to have been a victim of one of the Blades. Nero gave him a brief salute, and then vaulted back to the others.

They continued until they had come to the broken ventilation fan Leon and Dante had come through earlier. They climbed up the ladder one by one, returning to the sewer waterway and going past a metal gate to enter the passageway with the waterfall Claire and Lady had discovered.

Leon had only noticed the machine on the side of the wall with the symbols of a wolf and eagle before Dante marched forwards, shoving a bundle of blue rods into the waterfall. It froze instantly, and after a solid punch from the Devil Hunter, there was a simple ice archway that lead to a door the waterfall had hidden. Annette gasped, and began asking him several rapid-fire questions, but he ignored them all and went through the door; with no other choice, she resolved to ask him later. The group filed through after Dante one by one, continuing across a high metal walkway until they came to a cable car station overlooking a sheer drop-off into darkness.

Annette walked to a small electronic workstation, tapping several buttons in rapid succession. Lights went on all around them, and the cable car hummed to life. "We won't all fit," Annette informed them. "We'll need to make two trips to get all of us across."

Lady nodded. "Okay. This is how we should split up…"

* * *

CHAPTER END

August already, huh? Well, at least there's some summer left, so I hope all of you get a chance to enjoy it! Thanks for reading, and see you next chapter!


	21. 20: The Second Mutation of G

"Annette, Sherry and I need to get to the lab immediately, so we'll be going first."

"I'll go with," Dante insisted to her, but Lady shook her head.

"You need to stay with Leon and Claire. I'd like Nero and Kyrie to come with us."

"What?! Why not me?"

"Because we're going to a lab," she said patiently. "And even you have to admit that combat is more your field."

"But…"

" _And_ ," she continued determinedly, "we're going to have a lot of firepower with us on the first trip, so I want to make sure there's enough for the second trip; I don't want all our heavy-hitters on one team. Not to mention, the sooner we get there, the sooner we can whip up a cure."

He wanted to argue, but the seconds were ticking away. "Alright. Get goin', then, and we won't be far behind."

She gave him and the other two a nod, and then motioned for her group to follow her.

"Hey, Lady." She turned to look at Dante, a look of mild frustration on her face. "…Take care of yourself."

Lady's face softened slightly, and she gave him a small smile. "Of course." The five of them packed into the tram, and as the doors latched shut, they were on their way.

The trip was both extended and tense; Nero had drawn his revolver while looking around warily, and Lady was examining her own new revolver. "Nice find," Nero said to her.

"It was in a locker in the station. Claire was the one who found it, but she gave it to me."

"Never figured you for a revolver type. Tryin' something new, or just a fan of the classics?"

Lady chuckled. "You're sounding like Ken-" She paused and took a deep, steadying breath. "…Never mind. I've wanted to try one out for a while, but a certain _someone_ kept sponging money off of me."

Nero gave her a wry smile. "I'll bet. Looks like it's had some work done on it; someone modded the cylinder to swing out and gave it new grips. How does it handle?"

"I wouldn't know; I haven't had a chance to fire it."

He frowned. "That's too bad; it's a good gun."

…Neither of them could think of much else to say.

Annette, meanwhile, was contemplating several things at the same time. Chief among them was the antigen that needed to be made for Sherry. Once the first few components were prepared, the process became extremely simple, though they'd never had a chance to test it very thoroughly. Would it work? What would the side-effects be? What would happen if she got the dosage wrong?

Even putting that aside, this other antivirus made her suspicious. A vaccine made from just blood, venom, and a base chemical? It sounded far too good to be true. It had, after all, come from a man who could appear and disappear at will. _How did he do that? And how did he show us those images? Some sort of localized electromagnetic field manipulation, or maybe some sort of trick done with preplanned smoke, projectors, and static generators?_

And who were these people who rescued her daughter, anyway? There were the three that could almost pass for normal; one with a crossbow, the cop she'd shot (accidentally!) and the other with a grenade launcher slung around her. But then there was the woman with the rocket launcher, and the young men with white hair and swords strapped to their backs (somehow). There had been mutterings about people of similar descriptions to four of them, but Umbrella's watchdogs had clamped down hard on the rumors, and she doubted anyone other than security knew anything besides the whispers: that they'd been behind the mansion's destruction, and that they were somehow more than human. Were they test subjects gone wrong? …Or _right_ , perhaps?

"Mom?"

Annette looked down to see her daughter's worried face. "What's wrong?"

She pushed away the unanswered questions and forced herself to smile. "I'm just bored. What about you?"

"Happy you're okay."

Mrs. Birkin smiled at Sherry. "And I am very happy you're safe."

"Is Dad at the lab?"

She winced, but covered it up immediately. "I haven't found your father yet. But he's definitely still…alive. I'm sure of it."

The young girl smiled. "Good. I hope we find him soon!"

"Sherry," Kyrie said quickly, "why don't you help me do a count of my items so that we know how many we can use?"

As soon as her daughter had walked over to the woman in white, she let out a heavy sigh. There would be time for the truth, but only after she stopped the G-Virus from taking hold in her girl.

It felt like far too much time had passed when the cable car finally shuddered to a stop and the doors slid open.

"Finally," Nero muttered, stretching his arms out as they exited, "it was way too tedious going through that."

It spoke to the truth of his statement that not even Kyrie refuted it. Annette began to lead them to a door, but Lady and Nero noticed something as they walked past it; what looked like a giant mortar. "What's this for, blowing up uninvited guests?" Nero asked Annette.

"It's a flare launcher, actually. We use it to signal for the operator at the other station to recall the cable car."

"You guys really need to invest in more phones."

Taking that as her cue, Lady drew her radio.

* * *

"Ada!"

Both Dante and Claire jumped. "Where?" the Devil Hunter asked.

"No, not like that. We can't leave without her!"

"You're just remembering this now?!"

The R.P.D. officer fidgeted guiltily. "Well…a lot went on in the last few minutes…"

"Much as I hate to admit it, he's right," said Claire. "We shouldn't leave anyone behind. Even if she is an untrustworthy, trigger-happy, headstrong, anti-social…" She paused, trying to think of other appropriate descriptions.

"Oh, do go on," came a drawling voice from the doorway.

Claire froze, not daring to turn around as footsteps approached. "…How long have you been here?"

"Long enough." Ada strolled in front of her, a smirk dancing on her face. "No, don't let me stop you. I'm sure you had more."

"Where have you _been_?!" Leon exclaimed. "We caught up to that woman a while ago, and this place keeps getting more dangerous! We can't keep splitting up all the time or-"

"I managed to find information on John. After all my searching, it turns out he's dead."

Dante stared at the woman. There were no tears, no tremors, not even clenched teeth. _Is she like Lady, where she bottles everything up? Or…_ That thought was pushed aside as more pressing matters needed his attention. "I'm sorry to hear that, but you're still alive and you're here now. Let's get outta this place; we'll watch out for you."

"Agreed."

Leon's radio hissed. "…eon, this….Lady, come in."

He pulled it from his belt. "We read you, but just barely. You're cutting out."

"Figures. We're prob…lmost at the edge…ignal range. We- hey, what are you-?!" There was the sound of something sliding, and then a bunch of rustling and hissing.

"…Lady? Lady!"

For a few seconds, there was no response. Then…

"Okay, how's this?" Lady's voice returned in a rush, and for a moment also sounded slightly nervous.

Leon blinked. "Better. How did you-?"

"I don't know how long this will work, so let's keep this brief. We made it across and we're headed to the lab. Annette says that it's deep underground and will take a while for the elevator to travel, so we might not be able to stay in contact for a while. Tell Dante that if I don't make it, he can have my jobs but he's sure as _hell_ not getting my motorcycle."

"Uh…copy that. We've found Ada as well, so we'll head over the second the cable car returns."

"Good. See you on the other side. Over."

Leon returned the radio, looking over the assembled group. "Well, you heard her. Let's get that thing back here; and I for one hope I never have to set foot in another sewer EVER again."

* * *

Nero retracted the Devil Bringer (now a transparent crimson color) and set Lady down, who glared at him in a mixture of exasperation and admiration. "Haven't we been over this before with explaining first? That was quick thinking and all, but-"

"Sorry, but we don't have much time to spare," he said, his eyes flicking towards her leg. "You can chew me out over a cold one once we get home."

She rolled her eyes, fighting a grin. "Okay. Then let's move out."

Annette gaped at them. "How on earth…what are…?" She pointed at his arms.

Nero blinked, looking down at them, before looking back up and shrugging nervously. "It's…uh…sort of a long story…"

"Experimental technology, government project, top secret," Lady rattled off. "There, I just saved us two hours. Shall we?" The scientist looked as if she wanted to argue, but gave up and led them to the door; though she edged herself between Nero and Sherry, glancing at him warily.

The door for this station took them into a corridor that split into two directions. The direction Annette instructed them had several zombies (which were promptly dealt with), but just to be thorough, Nero took Lady and Kyrie to examine the other path to see if they could find anything on their list of anti-virus ingredients.

They had no such luck. But there was a rather fortunate find even so; right next to a corpse that looked as if it had been there for weeks was something resembling a gun, the likes of which none of them had ever seen before.

"What have we here?" Nero asked aloud, picking up the oddly-shaped gun. "Hmm… 'Spark Shot Mark.1 - Anti-B.O.W. weapon.'" He looked up. "Anti-Bio Organic Weapon weapon?" Made sense. " 'Property of Umbrella R&D. Use with extreme caution.' Yeah, figured as much. Let's see…ratings… 'Range: 10 feet.' Niiice! 'Power Ratings: 2.5 to 6.8 kilovolts…amperage from 2 to… **40 amps**?!" he yelled. "Holy SHIT! They weren't kidding around with this thing!"

"Bit of a kick to it?" Lady asked dryly.

"Yeah, if 'a bit' means frying a person four times over and having their hearts explode…" He frowned, holding the weapon much more gingerly. "…Whatever you do, don't touch the ends."

"No kidding."

He studied the odd weapon. "This design, though…they weren't joking about the 'experimental' part, either."

"What do you mean, Nero?" Kyrie asked.

"Well, it's bulky and inefficient. I mean, we could take it with, but it's just…no, sorry, I can't stand this. Gimme a sec." And with that, he abruptly began taking bits of it apart. "Just look at this…half of the equipment here is overly redundant or damaging to the gun itself. I mean, _look_ at this!" He held up a small piece that he'd detached. "They looped the feed from the capacitor to the launching mechanism twice; wasting double the energy to get half the output! You'd burn the damn thing out completely if you fired it dry. Toss _this_ …" he threw the piece over his shoulder, "rework _this_ …"

They heard clicking and scraping as he moved several pieces around. "Move this piece here…and that piece there…and rewire this…here…" He tied the wire, and then smiled, holding the gun aloft; it was now the size of a pistol. An overly-large pistol, but a one-handed weapon nonetheless. "There we go! If we had more time, I could re-forge a few new pieces and give the whole thing a full overhaul, but this'll do for now. Just have to be careful not to use any more than one-fourth the total energy if I can help it; the capacitor'll risk warping from the heat, and I dunno how to recreate it. Still, this should work!" He beamed at the two, but frowned at the looks they were giving him. Kyrie was giving him a proud smile, but Lady was looking at him oddly. "What? What is it?"

"Did…you just make a lightning pistol?" she said breathlessly.

"Umm…no, I didn't _make_ anything…" he said, feeling wrong-footed. "I just gave it a quick and dirty fix to make it more useful. And it's more like a shotgun, anyway."

"Okay, then. You turned a lightning shotgun into a _pistol-sized_ lightning shotgun."

"Well, I guess…"

She looked him up and down several times, and then sighed. "Kyrie, you are a very lucky woman…"

Kyrie nodded. "I know."

Nero swallowed nervously. "Um, yeah…so, uh…maybe we can get back to the others?"

After rejoining with the other two, they went through the door at the end of the path, immediately coming upon another split in the path. This time there were three routes to choose from; left, right, or straight ahead.

"Which way do we go now?" Lady asked, looking at the Umbrella researcher.

Just as she opened her mouth to answer, they heard a familiar _THUMP, THUMP, THUMP_ as Mr. X approached them from the left corridor. Immediately after, several groans echoed from the right corridor.

"Please, _please_ tell me it's straight ahead…"

"It is. Let's go!" She surged forward with Sherry as the others zipped through the intersection. Mr. X was close enough that Nero actually had to duck under a swipe from one of his oversized fists.

The groans became louder as something rounded the corner of the other corridor. Lady's eyes widened in surprise; it was almost identical to the thing that Wesker had called "Tyrant" back at the mansion. It bore a few slight differences; this one was still wearing pants, for one, and it was only about six feet tall. But the heart on the outside of its chest and the veins bulging from its skin were impossible to mistake; this thing was definitely a Tyrant (though no doubt Wesker would have considered it "inferior" to his version).

It was at the head of a group of zombies that were approaching, and it found its path blocked by Mr. X, who had continued to pursue the survivors. It glared furiously at the giant impeding its path, and just past the bulking form of the approaching trench-coated man, Lady saw several sharp bones jut out of its skin. It raised a hand (now with four-inch claws) and slashed at the green coat of the giant.

Mr. X stopped dead in his tracks, turning slowly around. The pseudo-Tyrant raised its clawed hand again, but the giant's fist shot out with surprising speed and clenched the undead creature's throat, raising it effortlessly into the air.

As much as Lady wanted to watch further, they had higher priorities than chasing after the man-like monster that refused to die. She retreated with the others to a ladder at the far end of the passage, climbing up after them hurriedly; as she did, she just managed to catch a glimpse of the miniature Tyrant being used as a bludgeon against its fellow zombies.

At the top of a ladder was a control room with an all-too-familiar red box, assorted ammunition, and a hatch to close over the ladder. As Lady finished climbing into the room, Annette kicked the hatch closed behind her. "What are you doing?! The others will be-"

"It won't hold him for long," the scientist said, her face pale. "We can't allow that monster to catch up with us, and this should buy us a few precious minutes. Once he's done with those t-vectors, he'll have that hatch broken far too quickly. Trust me; I know what it's capable of."

Her mind flashed back to the massive being crashing straight through walls. "We need to warn the others."

"How? You're beyond the effective range of the radios; you said it yourself."

It didn't feel right, but she did have a point. _Dante can protect them; whatever that bald giant is, he's no match for that walking white-haired bloodbath. I just hope he actually pays attention to the people he's supposed to be helping…_

With nothing else to do, they ransacked the room for supplies. There were a few cases of grenades that Lady set aside for Claire, a clip of .50 caliber ammo that none of their weapons used (besides Nero, who didn't seem to need them), two speedloaders with .45 ammo (which Nero handed Lady with a grin), and a box of shotgun shells (half of which Lady took, leaving the other half for Leon). After reloading, Annette took a key hanging from a hook near one of the control panels and led them outside. They could see the moon hanging over them and what looked like a train car several yards away. The night breeze carried the distant sound of undead groans to their ears, making them-

"Wait, what the-?!"

Lady and Annette drew their guns, the latter taking a protective stance in front of Sherry. "What's wrong, Nero?"

"We're at the factory again!"

She lowered her gun hesitantly. "…And?"

"Kyrie and I were here earlier; that means I led us in a circle…"

"You must have been at the other factory," commented Annette. "The exterior of this one hasn't been in use for some time, and we're some distance outside town. Besides, Umbrella only owns this one; as far as the town knows, this factory has been abandoned for years and still is."

"Oh."

Lady holstered her pistol, staring at him disapprovingly. "I don't think the shouting was really-"

"Hey! That reminds me!"

Her hands were halfway to drawing her gun again before she stopped them. "Dammit, stop that!"

He ignored her, turning to Annette. "What were you making the cages for?"

She flinched at his intense glare, but recovered quickly. "I don't know the details; just that the factory shifted production some time ago. You probably know more than I-"

"Don't play dumb! What was Umbrella doing?"

"I'm a virologist; they don't trust me with anything outside my field."

"And our friend in green? Is he in your field?"

She stared determinedly back, speaking in an even tone that was clearly taking a lot of concentration. "I'd be _happy_ to answer any questions you have, but _only_ once we're on our way down to the lab. The clock is ticking."

Sherry looked up at her nervously. "Mom? Is Lady going to be okay?"

Annette swallowed nervously, her eyes flickering between her daughter and the woman. "We're all going to be just fine, Sherry. But we need to get to the lab soon, all right?"

The girl nodded. She winced slightly, but quickly schooled her expression into a calm one. "Okay."

They all walked to the train car. Annette inserted the key, turned it, and tapped her foot impatiently as a row of red lights flicked on sequentially. Once the last one in line had been lit, she pressed a large red button, causing a new row of green lights to switch on in sequence as well. A loud airhorn sounded around them, and they all began climbing into the train car.

It had a very simplistic interior; two bench seats, a workbench, and what looked like another case of grenades sitting next to a small sliding door. Once they'd entered, there were several loud hisses from outside, a few thunks that jolted the car slightly, and then they felt themselves descending. "There. We're on our way," Annette informed them. "We've got some time, so go ahead. Ask what you wanted to."

Nero held a hand out in Lady's direction. "You first. I've got something to work on." He took a few things out of his pockets that looked like parts to a gun and began assembling them at the workbench, filling the cabin with soft clicking and scraping noises.

"Mom, my stomach…" Sherry said through clenched teeth. "My stomach hurts."

Annette kept her face impassive as she turned to her daughter. "Why don't you lie down and rest? We'll be there in a little while; we can get something for your stomach then."

She nodded, laying across one of the benches. "I hope Claire's…okay…" And then she drifted off into unconsciousness.

Annette touched Sherry's forehead, not bothering to hide the look of dread on her face. "She's running a high fever; the infection must be under way now. We need to complete the antigen before the embryos fully mature."

"What happens if they do?"

"I don't know, nor do I wish to."

"How much time does she have?"

"Hours at best, give or take several minutes depending on her level of activity." She brushed a strand of hair out of the sleeping girl's face. "Sleeping is the best thing for her right now."

"How much time do I have?" Lady asked the scientist.

The noise from the workbench came to a sudden halt.

"Given that it was from a single bite, and that your body is exhausted already…less than twenty four hours. Should you continue fighting, it would increase blood flow, and that would likely speed up the rate of infection further."

The clicks and scrapings resumed, and she frowned, thinking. "What about this miracle cure we're making? How fast does that work?"

Her eyes narrowed. "I've never even heard of it, so I wouldn't know. Why don't you ask your mysterious friend?"

"He's no friend of _ours_ ," Nero muttered, examining his now fully-assembled weapon. It was a four-barreled pistol that seemed to fire special needles rather than bullets; the majority of the weapon was made of steel polished to a mirror sheen, but the grips were blood-red. _I'll need a name for you._

"Who is that man?"

"We'd like to know too," Lady said, absentmindedly toying with the end of one of her belt straps. "He's been causing us just about as many headaches as Umbrella's messes have."

 _CRASH_

A red light near the door flickered to life.

"…Case in point, I suppose." She stood up immediately. "Does that door have a lock?"

Annette looked between Lady and the door. "That red light means an emergency; the door will only open from the inside until the light goes off. One of us needs to stay behind and guard Sherry."

"Thanks for volunteering. Nero, let's go; Kyrie, you're going to have to be our last line of defense."

"Understood," the woman in white said, nodding determinedly as Nero stuffed the new gun into his coat.

"Wait, you can't go in your condition! Too much activity could-"

"I know," the Devil Hunter said, cutting Annette's warning off. "But in case you hadn't noticed, we're the ones with enough firepower to make an eighties movie cry jealous tears. We're trusting you to keep her safe."

"But…"

"Don't worry, I'll make Nero do the running and jumping."

"You can be like a turret, but with more personality," Nero said, grinning. "Enough stalling, though, or whatever it is'll try bustin' in here."

"See you soon." She and Nero stepped out of the door; sure enough, as it closed behind them, they heard the lock click. "Ready to test out that lightning-thrower?"

He shook his head. "I left it in the car in case they need it."

"What about that other gun you were working on?"

"It's weird, but…I think it's meant to be used underwater. Still, Blue Rose hasn't let me down yet." They stepped down onto the descending turntable, looking around at the elevator shaft for something amiss. A hiss echoed around them, but they couldn't see where it was coming from…

There was the sound of something large being swung through the air, and Lady quickly sidestepped as Nero made a turning grab with his right hand while the Devil Bringers appeared over his arms. His fingers closed around a large pipe, stopping it in midair inches away from his nose. Looking up in the direction it had come from, they saw a humanoid form standing atop the train car. It had a large right arm (extended from its throw) with an eyeball set into the shoulder, a blonde head streaked with blood, and blackened tissue crisscrossing a chest that a tattered lab coat dangled from. "Doctor Birkin, I presume?"

" _Sherrryyyy…_ " it groaned.

"You've hurt her enough already!" Lady yelled, un-strapping the shotgun from Kalina Ann, leveling it at the mutant. "I'll make you wish you never met me," she growled.

The mutant growled in return, and then it began to shudder. As the two watched it, the blonde head sank down until it became merely a face on the creature's chest; a second appendage grew from the neck area, an eye popping out of the right side to stare at them. Its right arm spasmed violently, and large claws erupted from the hand. It took a menacing step forward with its left foot, which also suddenly sprouted sharp talons. Its bared chest shuddered, and it looked like two additional arms were trying but failing to burst out of the skin. The mutated Birkin hissed (somehow), and then jumped down at them, swiping with its new claws.

They both dived to the sides, Nero tossing away the pipe and rolling easily to his feet. Lady rose to her feet half a second later, her breathing slightly labored. "You gonna make it there?" he asked her over his shoulder.

"Just shut up and hit the damn thing!" Lady snapped at him.

 _And this is why I hate teams,_ Nero thought irritably as he raised his revolver at the monster. It reminded him so much of the Tyrant they'd fought at the mansion; could it maybe have the same weakness? "Try aiming for the head!"

She nodded, firing a blast at the second head that had just come out of the neck. There was a spray of blood, but all the attack really seemed to do was get the monster's attention and anger directed at her.

"No, the _other_ head! The one on the chest!"

"Give-" She ducked under a swipe of the monster's claws. "Better-" Lady fired a shot at the eyeball growing from the creature's shoulder, and then narrowly jumped out of the way of an angry slash. "Directions!"

Nero scoffed, firing two shots into the forehead of the face on Birkin's chest. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to have any large effect. "Okay, new plan! Let's switch up!" Lady retreated, and he ran forward, batting the monster's claws aside with his left arm and using his right to catch the mutant in the gut. Even though the attack had enough force to suspend it in midair for a moment, Birkin was only slightly winded, and reached his claws back for a thrusting stab. "Not so fast!" His Devil Bringer reared back and punched forwards; the enemy had barely dropped an inch when the ghostly red arm sent it into the shaft wall with enough force to make a crater. He retracted the arm, and the elevator continued its descent, the impact site retreating upwards into the shadows.

A few seconds later, they heard a strangled hiss, and the G-monster dropped back down onto the platform again.

"Stubborn bastard, aren't you?" Nero muttered.

Birkin jumped up, slashing downwards at the Holy Knight; he jumped backwards as the beast impacted the metal with its claws, which seemed to become stuck. Lady ran forwards, blasting it several times with the shotgun as it pulled with all its might in an attempt to free itself.

"Let's see if you can learn fireproofing too," Nero said, channeling power into his gun. "Lady, get clear!" She hastily retreated, and he fired the empowered bullets straight into the creature's new head. A second later, the charged bullets exploded, and the monster gave a burbling hiss.

"Haven't had…enough?!" Lady panted, dropping her shotgun. She unlimbered Kalina Ann and slammed it down over the monster's head. A loud _crack_ echoed from the metal walls around them, and she raised it up again. _I have HAD it…_ She brought it down a second time. _…with you!_ She raised it and brought the heavy weapon down a third time. _Call yourself a "parent"?!_

"Lady, look out!"

It had finally freed itself, and it brought its unrestrained claws up as Lady hurled herself backwards. She was a half-second late; the edge of the monster's claws swiped across her left arm as she tumbled away.

"You'll regret that," Nero snarled as Karkinos appeared in his hands. One of the scythes deflected another slash from the G-creature while the other promptly sent it into the air. He leapt up after it, slicing in wide arcs with each scythe as he twisted back and forth. "Get…" He slashed both downwards, flipping forward in a full circle. "LOST!" Nero spun with both scythes extended, rotating in midair like an angry top. The strength of the strikes sent Birkin careening into the wall, bouncing off of it and then impacting the elevator. He landed beside the monster, the scythes disappearing in a flash of red light. Even with all the punishment he'd inflicted on the creature, it was still stirring, trying to get to its feet once more. "Haven't had enough yet?"

 _Bang! Bang!_

Lady was limping towards the monster, her bloodied left arm dangling to her side as she fired repeatedly at the mutant with her pistol. "Stay down," she ordered as she dragged herself forwards. "We've faced worse than you; you think we'll give up?" She fired twice more, and then the pistol locked open. _Empty._ "Just…just stay down."

Nero doubted that Birkin could understand them anymore, but its movements came to a halt regardless. It lay flat on its face, a pool of blood spreading under it. His body relaxed. "Well, that's that. We'd better get back in-" He never managed to finish his sentence as his ally crumpled. "Lady!" Nero raced towards her, barely managing to catch her before she'd fallen to her knees. "C'mon, don't quit on me now!"

"Lost too much blood…" she muttered, her head drooping. "Need…more of the…"

"Save your breath, would ya?!" _Dammit, she's going to need some heals. Hope Kyrie still has some herbs…_ He set her down gently. "You can hate me if you want, but I need to hang onto these for you." He walked over to the rocket launcher and laid his right hand on it. The Devil Bringer glowed, and the weapon disappeared in a flash of light. He did the same with the discarded shotgun. "The instant you're back to normal, I'll give these back. I promise." He picked her up, carrying her back to the train car door, which he tapped…less than lightly with his foot. "Open up! We took the thing out, but Lady needs healing!"

The door opened immediately, and he hurried inside, laying her down on the seat opposite Sherry. To their fortune, Kyrie did have three herbs left. She took a sheet of paper from Nero and began mixing a red and green plant as Nero glared at Annette. "Something tells me you haven't given us the full story yet."

"You met William, didn't you?"

"'William'? Weird codename for one of your experiments."

"Husband," Lady said tiredly from her spot. "Annette…husband…injected himself…" Kyrie shushed her, sharing a look with Nero as the Devil Hunter's eyelids flickered closed.

"Your…?!"

The scientist nodded. "Yes. My husband and Sherry's father. I…I presume you killed him?" she asked through clenched teeth.

"Well…"

"It had to be done." Her voice was flat, and she looked back at him without a trace of hesitation. "All that matters now is getting to the lab and synthesizing a cure."

"He changed before fighting us."

She nodded. "The primary function of the G-Virus is to revitalize cellular function, but William was adamant about giving it a secondary function as well; self-evolution."

"'Evolution'? But that takes place over several generations and in different individuals!" They all turned to stare at Kyrie. "One person or animal can't 'self-evolve'!"

Annette raised an eyebrow. "…My apologies. A better term might be 'self-adaptation'. In theory, after every defeat experienced by the G-vector, it would gain a new edge that would help it in the next conflict. William was insistent that, with the subject losing its sense of reason, it was still invaluable to 'learn' from its environment. What was the adaptation he displayed?"

"He…umm…grew claws and a new head," Nero said, watching her warily. "The old one got sucked into the chest."

"I see…it does make sense; the head is most vulnerable, so no doubt he grew one with a thicker skull to resist gunfire. Perhaps the body absorbed the old head to decentralize the brain matter or-"

"It doesn't bother you doing that?" he interrupted. "You're sitting there, talking about your own husband. You know; the person you had a _kid_ with?"

"We need to know what we're dealing with," she hissed at him. "These are the kinds of things we spent our careers studying and developing; it's…" Her voice cracked. "It's the only thing I can do for him now."

"Yeah, well, just don't get too carried away. Sherry's been through enough; she doesn't need to lose you too."

"I…" She blinked. "…Thank you."

Rather than responding, he walked over to the workbench, grabbing the "Spark Shot" and absorbing it into the Devil Bringer. Kyrie gave her impromptu bandage a final tie, and smiled reassuringly at Annette.

A few minutes later, the train car came to a stop. Nero and Kyrie picked up Lady and Sherry respectively, and followed Mrs. Birkin out of the train. Several zombies were shuffling around two doors some distance away, but their guide held a finger to her lips and led them towards a close door that was clear of hostiles. They entered, shutting the door softly behind them.

"This is the security room," she informed them as they set their unconscious charges down onto a large cot. "They should be safe here for the time being, but we'll need to hurry."

"'We'?! We can't all go and just leave them here!" the Holy Knight insisted.

"Of the three of us, who has a degree and training in biochemistry?" she asked, staring at him. There was silence. "I thought as much. If we want those cures made in time you'll need my help, and I'll need your protection while I work." She ran a hand over Sherry's hair, and then sighed. "Let's hurry."

"But…"

"The more we sit here talking, the less time they'll have! Now come on!"

They followed her out, Nero drawing his revolver in anticipation of the undead they'd need to clear out. _Dante, you and the others better get your asses in gear, or we might not make the deadline._

* * *

CHAPTER END

Author's Note: Twenty chapters and over 300 pages for this story, and we're only now getting to the lab. Which is especially weird, because I can usually do the game start to finish in under an hour and a half...

Er, anyway, hope that you're enjoying it so far! If there are any errors (be they typos, plot holes, or anything in-between), let me know and I'll fix them up right away.

The current goal is finishing this by Halloween, and we're at the endgame now, so this should get interesting. See you all next time!


	22. 21: The Third Mutation of G

After a span of far too much time, the cable car returned to the waiting group, and the gathered four wasted no time in piling into the transport. After tapping the button to activate it once more, the doors closed, and they were on their way.

"This ride is going to take forever," Dante grumbled. "Nothing to do but-"

 _CLANG! CLANG!_

They all drew their weapons. "Well, that does break the tedium," Leon muttered.

Something stabbed through each of the doors, tearing them outwards and shaking the cable car violently. Dante ran to the opening, glimpsing at the doors tumbling to the darkness below and listening for any signs of their new adversary. Ten seconds passed, and while there was no activity from any creature, his ears caught the sound of the doors hitting water far below. _That far down would kill anyone here who isn't me; better watch our footing._

An arm crashed down through the ceiling, the all too familiar flytrap-like hand snapping at them, the eye within staring pitilessly at the survivors. He hurriedly returned, pointing Ivory at the hand but stopping just before he fired.

"You guys stay here; I'll take the fight to our stowaway!" Dante holstered his pistols, running to the open doorway and gripping the overhang, flipping onto the roof to stare at the persistent mutant currently turned away from him.

Once again, it had changed; there were now two eyeballs on its back with a toothy mouth just below them. The new mouth hissed at Dante, and the creature withdrew its arm from the roof, turning around to face him.

"I'll need to see your ticket."

The monster scuttled toward him on its four legs, hands snapping angrily. Dante flipped over it, drawing Ebony and Ivory and firing downwards several times before landing. The Devil Hunter turned, and saw the mouth working as if it was chewing. _That can't be fun…_ He stepped out of the way as the back-mouth thing spat blood in a stream. "Hey, no spitting in the car; there's a fine for that!" He drew Rebellion, pointing it at the rude mutant. "No ticket, no manners; looks like I'm gonna have to ask you to leave." It scrambled at him again, and this time he brought Rebellion down in a lazy strike. To his surprise, the creature hopped to the right to avoid it, lunging at him. Smiling, he hopped to the right himself, intending to send the monster straight off the cable car.

However, he hadn't counted on its extra legs, which brought it to a near-immediate halt. It whipped its arms at him, missing several times. "Tricky, aren't you? Okay, then; I'll get some practice in." Rebellion disappeared as a bright light shone over his arms and legs, Gilgamesh forming over them as he took a mock-bowing stance. "Let's try out a little Royal Guard!" he said as a light blue aura danced briefly around him. The creature began swiping at him once more, but every time it did, there was a flash and a clanging sound, with no harm coming to Dante.

Meanwhile, in the car, Ada looked around at the other two. "Well, what are you waiting for? Give him some cover fire!" As if startled from a daydream, the other two nodded and took aim through the hole the creature had created in the cable car. Shots rang out as bullets hit several parts of the creature, while a few bounced off the shell-like formation around its chest.

The monster stopped its continuous assault on Dante, and turned around to advance toward the gunfire. "Hey, what am I, chopped liver?" he said irritably, striding towards his opponent. The mouth on its back snapped at him irritably, and the creature smashed both fists through the roof. _No, dammit! I have to keep its attention on me, or it'll tear the car apart and give those three their last high dive!_ "HEY!" He pulled out Hound-B, firing directly into the mouth on its back. That _really_ seemed to get its attention; it yanked its arms free and whirled around to face him. "Stop it, you three; you'll get yourselves killed!" But they didn't seem to hear him over the sound of the gunfire. _Guess we don't get to play around quite as much; gotta finish this before Mr. Mask here gets us to go on a basement detour. If only I had a cool grabby arm like Nero does…_ He countered two swipes from the creature's clawed hands, then punched it twice in the ribs and delivered a crushing axe kick that slammed it down on the roof, shaking the car once more.

"Sheesh, this isn't a carnival ride!" Leon yelled. "Mind toning it down a bit?!"

"And would you mind-" He didn't have time to finish as the monster got to its feet once more, and he assumed a ready stance.

The only visible normal eye of the beast stared balefully at him as it hissed " _Die!_ " It plunged both arms into the roof of the car, tearing free a strip of metal. As it did, it stumbled a bit as another hail of gunfire hit it.

Dante heard the hook of the cable car begin to groan. "Stop it!" he roared, running at the creature. It hurled the jagged piece of metal at him, and the instant before it would have hit, he thrust his right arm forward. The metal sheared apart into several pieces which flung into the darkness and the monster recoiled in pain. _Please…hold on just a little longer!_

Dante's mind raced, thinking of possible backup plans. He could Devil Trigger and catch them…but even if he did, his wings wouldn't be enough to keep them all in the air for long; they might make it down to the water safely, but then it would be a matter of starving to death rather than death via falling. Or maybe he could freeze the car back together? But Cerberus's ice would probably stab through the metal and make things even worse…and there was always the chance that it couldn't spread fast enough to prevent the car from being torn apart. _C'mon, hurry up!_

To his relief, the other station had become visible. "End of the line, everybody!" he announced, launching a flurry of kicks at the mutated being. "The second you can, get out; this sucker's about to drop!"

"About to WHAT?!" Claire yelled. She double-checked that all her weapons and items were secure, and Leon did the same. Ada, however, was busy feeding rounds into a pistol clip as they began getting close to the platform.

"Get out! Hurry!" Dante yelled as he blocked several attacks from the monster.

The instant he saw the platform, Leon leapt onto it. He spied what looked like a cannon. "Claire, help Dante; use my lighter on that cannon!" He caught her as she jumped from the cable car, hastily handing her his lighter as he turned to help Ada.

Claire sprinted for the cannon, turning it to face the battling duo. "Dante, get clear!" She flicked open the lighter and ignited the cannon, covering her ears.

Dante leapt from the cable car as the cannon fired. To Claire's shock, it fired what looked like a flare rather than a grenade at the monster. Even more surprising was that it still worked; the flare exploded, and the creature began flailing in blind fury. As it did, one of its slashes caught the hook of the cable car, and with an earsplitting whine, the metal began tearing free.

"Ada, JUMP!" Leon yelled. The woman slammed the clip into her pistol and hurled herself out of the doorway; a split-second later, the top of the cable car's hook snapped, and both the car and Ada began to fall. Leon stretched his arm out, and in slow motion, he could see a look of horror that Ada had never shown before… "Gotcha!" His hand clasped hers; unfortunately, it was his right hand, and as a result he felt his still-healing shoulder flare with pain. "Claire, can you help pull her up?" His arm trembled, and he could already feel his hand beginning to strain.

Ada, from the way she looked, could feel it as well. "Leon, you don't have to save…" she began, but Leon cut her off.

"Yes I do! You're worth saving!" The ache in his arm grew nearly unbearable. "Claire!"

Claire rushed to his side, grasping his hand with both hers. "We've got you, hang on!" Both of them gave a mighty heave, and pulled her up onto the platform. "Phew…lucky you weren't carrying your own grenade launcher."

Ada looked at both of them as she tried to calm her racing heart. "…That's two I owe you, Leon. And I suppose one for you too, Claire." A strange feeling was coursing through her; she'd been so sure that would be the end of it all, and yet…

They heard a loud, distant splash below.

"He better grow a pair of flippers," Leon said, rubbing his shoulder with his left hand. "Thanks, Claire."

"My pleasure." Claire glanced down, noticing that her hands were still resting on his right one. She stood up hurriedly, clearing her throat. "Well! Off to the lab, then?"

Just as they were about to leave, a glint of light caught Leon's eye. He looked in the direction of the flare launcher, and saw a key swinging from one of its bolts. He grabbed it, reading the tag on its ring. " 'W Box key'. What's a W Box?"

"We'll run into it sooner or later, I bet," Dante said. "I'll take point."

"Naturally," Leon answered, grinning. After going through the door, they encountered zombies. Or rather, the unmoving forms of them that had a huge collection of bullet wounds or missing heads. "Looks like they didn't leave any fun for us. What about ammo or healing items?" They did a brief check, but turned up nothing, going through the door that put them in the next corridor with the three branching paths.

"Hmm…should we flip a coin?"

Claire looked at Dante. "Oh, hang on, let me grab my three-sided coin real quick."

"You know, that's pretty impressive, I could almost _see_ the sarcasm in the air."

Ada studied a few of the bodies with a curious expression. "These weren't killed by gunfire. Looks like they were hit with brute force."

"Interesting," Claire said, frowning in thought. "You think it was the others, or…?" She shook her head. "We should keep going. Dante, you wait at the intersection; we'll explore the corridors." They each took a different path; Ada went straight ahead, Leon to the left, and Claire to the right. "Nothing," she reported.

"Same here. Wait…well, that helps, but…" Leon picked up a large box before returning to the center. "Looks like custom parts for my shotgun. No door, though."

"I've found something," Ada called to them. "There's a ladder that leads up to a control room; this must be the right direction." They followed her up the ladder (Claire noticing that a bent hatch was hanging off one of its hinges) and looked around the room.

"Well, well," Leon said eagerly as he picked up two clips for his Desert Eagle. "I won't say no to these. Or these," he added, taking the last of the shotgun shells from their box.

"This bandolier's getting pretty full," Claire muttered as she began opening the cases of grenade rounds. "Another case of these things and we'll be better armed than a small country."

Ada strode over to the security console, tapping several keys. Numerous monitors flickered to life above it. "The elevator must be at the bottom. I can see a keyhole on this console marked 'Recall', but it's empty. There must be something hidden here…" She flipped through several video channels before stopping on a view of another security station; this one had a key dangling near it. "That must be it. I'll wait here to see if I can find anything else on these; who's going to get the key?"

"I'll go," Leon said immediately, setting the box of custom parts on top of the large red box. "Claire needs to finish reloading, so you mind backing me up, Dante?"

"Still not tired of me bailin' you out? All right, then." The two exited outside, where a large shaft descended into deep darkness not far away from the office. _I could probably just jump right down the elevator shaft. That'd get me to the lab quicker, which would mean a faster cure for Lady._ He took a map marked " _Confidential_ " from the wall and handed it to Leon as they strode towards a small lift. _Dunno how far down it is, but-_

"Hey, you still there?"

Dante blinked, looking at Leon. "What's up?"

"I asked 'Aren't you glad we left our bald buddy back at the police station?'. What do you think?"

"Don't count him out yet. Or did you forget lesson three?"

"Right, right; if it doesn't melt, explode, or turn to dust, it's not dead." They got on the lift and it took them down to a small catwalk. "Or did I forget something, and even that isn't enough?"

Dante gave a small smile as they walked across the catwalk to a door. "So far that's been pretty reliable, but if it changes I'll let you know."

* * *

Ada watched as the two appeared on one of the monitors, a red light over the screen lighting up that read "Motion Detected". It was an image from the camera pointed at the door going in to the other workstation. She smiled. _So far so good._ Leon strode past, while Dante blew a kiss at the camera. They walked out of the frame, and a few seconds later, reappeared on the adjacent monitor pointed at the security station (the light for motion flicking on above that monitor as the light above the other turned off). They were chatting between themselves as they picked up the key; Dante held his arms out in a mock challenge, and Leon mimicked him briefly before stuffing the key in his pocket. _Easy enough; now when they get back, we can-_

Suddenly, the light above the previous monitor flicked on again. Confused, Ada turned to look at it; she froze at what she saw. What looked like an eight-foot tall man in a green trench coat was striding purposefully towards the security station. His skin looked grey, and even looking through the monitor at a distance, his stare was intimidating. "Claire, there's someone on the monitor I don't recognize."

She looked across the room at the monitors. "What do you mean-" She broke off in terror as the empty grenade case fell from her fingers. "Oh, no…not him! Leon! You have to warn Leon!"

"I can't! The other team has the radio!" Ada snapped back.

"I'm going to help them!" she yelled, moving toward the door.

"Wait, the lift is still down there! You'd have to jump down, and if you missed…"

Claire halted, her hand on the doorknob. "I can't just leave them…"

Ada's eyes raced over the console and found a small thumbstick. She tapped a button, and moved the stick as rapidly as she could.

The giant on the first monitor raised its fists overhead. The first monitor turned abruptly to static. Ada stopped moving the thumbstick, peering at the monitor. The two on camera were alert, and both readied their shotguns. An instant later, that monitor was awash with white noise as well. "Leon…"

* * *

 _Earlier_

Leon and Dante sauntered into the room. They noticed a camera pointing straight at them; its motor whirred slightly as they walked towards it. Leon bypassed it, but Dante gave it a parting kiss as he went by.

"I really hope that's Ada you're doing that to," Leon muttered as he went to the security station. "Otherwise some poor survivor trapped in a security room is going to be very uncomfortable."

"Oh yeah, because this situation is so comfortable already." He spread his arms out as Leon grabbed the key. "Number one tourist spot right here."

"And you're the-" Leon spread his arms out wide in turn. "'Number One Tourist Guide', right?"

"Why not? I've done all kinds of odd jobs."

He rolled his eyes, stuffing the key in his pockets. "Let's just hope that tagging along during zombie apocalypses doesn't become a career for you." There was rapid whirring coming from overhead; he looked up and saw a camera hanging from the ceiling that was going postal, as if it were trying to dislodge a bee. _Is Ada trying to warn us of something?_ Just as he finished that thought, there was a loud crash, and several heavy footsteps. He and Dante readied their shotguns as one. "Me and my big mouth; looks like our friend followed us after all." Mr. X came around the corner, backhanding the camera without taking his gaze from the two of them. "Light him up!" They fired shot after shot at the massive being; the sustained force of their assault actually managed to push him back a few steps. Leon had just fired the last shell in his shotgun when their persistent opponent finally collapsed, several shotgun shells tumbling out of the giant's pockets.

While Leon was reloading, Dante gave Mr. X's unmoving form three additional servings of buckshot. "This guy's more stubborn than a few demons I've met, and that's saying something."

"Well, we've got the key. Unless you've got some acid on hand, we'd better hurry back; I don't know about you, but keeping a lovely woman with a large gun waiting seems like asking for trouble."

"Hey, you _are_ learning!" _Maybe I'd better hold off on jumping down; looks like there might be a few too many surprises for them to deal with alone._ They returned up the lift, and Leon had only just begun to open the door when it flew abruptly inward and he fell forward. Dante prepared to rush after him to grab his arm, but stopped when he saw that Claire had (awkwardly, in all honesty) caught him. "What, are the _doors_ a problem now?"

The R.P.D. officer found his footing and stood up properly again. Claire looked away, determinedly not meeting his eyes. "Not nearly as much as you, Dante." He strode over to the security console and inserted the key. After turning it, he glanced at Ada, who was giving him a smirk that was just a bit too knowing. Irritated, he grabbed the box of custom parts. "Well, now we get to wait for the elevator."

* * *

The group of three edged slowly through the small corridor, taking care to be quiet; even just the soft sound of their footsteps echoed several times.

"My lab is through here," whispered Annette. "Once we get there, we should be able to get the materials we need for the G-Virus antigen."

"What about Lady?" Kyrie whispered.

"If the vaccine for the t-Virus really is as simple as that strange man says, the lab equipment should be able to synthesize it." She stopped in front of a large sealed door. "We'll have to work together to open this; the lock is difficult to open."

"Oh, yeah? Let me give it a try." Nero sauntered forwards, gripping the circular handle with his right hand and turning. It didn't budge. Frowning, he tried exerting actual effort to twist it; still nothing. "Not again…"

"Why not put on those strange gloves of yours again?"

"They're a bit…temperamental. They don't seem to be working right now; you know how prototypes are."

Annette nodded. "Well, if you can't get it on your own, we'll need to get it together." She folded out a metal bar on the door, attaching it to the handle to form a large crank. They each put their weight into it, and slowly, the handle turned just enough for the door to unlock. Nero and Kyrie held the door open while Annette returned the bar to its folded position, and then they all went through. "Once we have the lab secured, we'll need to restore full power to the systems. When we've done that, we won't need to open doors like that manually, and the sliding doors will function as well."

"Spiffy," said Nero. They walked along a corridor with windows which seemed to border a cave. The cave itself had been reinforced with steel and concrete (no doubt by Umbrella). "So how do we get the-" He never did finish his sentence, as his eye had been caught by the object stationed at the center of the cave. "You've gotta be kidding me…" He stopped immediately, pointing a finger at the unexpected yet far-too-familiar sight. "Where the hell did _that_ come from?!" he yelled.

* * *

The cloaked man paced back and forth as the large machine whirred. _Ugh, this is so tedious. There was supposed to be one of these things already mixed, but no…for some reason, everything is messed up now._ There was a beep, he pressed a button, and another machine next to it began humming. _A single microgram out of place, or a step not done at the exact right moment, and the whole thing becomes an unhelpful mess. If I didn't know any better, I'd say I was being mocked with symbolism._

There were a few sloshing sounds, and the rhythm of the humming changed slightly. _All of this is those jerks' fault; just can't resist sticking their noses in, can they? I wonder if they're the ones that brought the demons here…_

A distant shriek echoed through the corridors. The man looked up nervously, and then immediately returned his focus to the machine. _C'mon…hurry up! I'm vulnerable like this!_ There were a few beeps, and he hurriedly tapped a few keys. _Almost done…_

The shriek was becoming louder, advancing in his direction. The capsule was just beginning to fill with the proper liquid. _Can't you pour faster, you stupid machine?!_ It was close now; he only had moments to spare. A long, resounding note played as the machine signaled the end of its duty. "About damn time!" He grabbed the small sealed capsule, stuffing it into his robes just as a Crimson Head came running into the room.

The undead creature snarled at him, and he smiled nervously. "Uh…hey, buddy." The man in the cloak waved cautiously. "Now, before you try to eat me..." It roared and charged at him, slashing viciously with its claws.

Its attack passed right through the man. "…you should know that illusions aren't very tasty. But keep trying your luck, dummy!" The image of the man stuffed his thumbs into his ears and blew a loud raspberry. Furious, the Crimson Head kept attacking the false man over and over again, ignorant of the futility.

Meanwhile, the physical form of the cloaked man reappeared in a hallway several feet away, breathing with some difficulty. _Phew…that was too close. And since when has it been difficult to keep two illusions going simultaneously? I must be getting old…_ Keeping as quiet as possible, he began to put more distance between himself and his would-be enemy.

* * *

Finally, the elevator arrived at the top. The fact that it used a train car caught them all by surprise. "Looks like we've got a ready-made getaway car," Leon noted. "We'll have to keep that in mind once we come back up."

"Why not just use it to escape now?" Ada suggested. "Surely there's no sense in going down to the lab when we can leave town immediately."

Claire shook her head. "We can't leave yet. Our friends are down there, and two of them won't make it unless we get them a cure."

"…I see." _Unfortunate; I'll have to find another way to get rid of them._ "Shall we, then?"

They stepped onto the elevator, and Leon pressed the button to send it down. As the airhorn rang out, the four boarded the train and felt it begin to descend.

As Dante and Leon went to the workbench so that the R.P.D. officer could put his custom shotgun parts to good use, Claire grabbed the grenade case before taking Ada aside. "How are you doing on ammo?"

"I have a few pistol clips, and the better part of the submachine gun's bullets. I'll be fine."

"Good." The other two were arguing over something to do with the stock parts; she watched them for a few moments before turning back to Ada. "How did you know that there was a lab?"

Ada stared at her before smirking. "Wasn't it obvious from the notes we've recovered? Umbrella wouldn't have experiments in the sewers; they'd need someplace no one knew about, but was close enough to the city for convenience of supplies. What else would be at the bottom of a huge elevator housed in an abandoned factory?"

"Hmm…if you say so. But something about you just seems suspicious…"

To Claire's surprise, her smirk grew wider. "Could it be jealousy?"

"Of what, your machine gun?"

"You know what I mean."

Leon was holding a tube magazine extension in the air, away from Dante's reach. The Devil Hunter was reaching for it, protesting that he knew what he was doing.

"…I don't think I do know what you mean."

"Hmm…if you say so." Her amused expression was unaffected by Claire's cold glare. "Just make sure not to let your emotions cloud your judgment."

"I'll keep both my emotions _and_ my better judgment, thanks," she responded. "A person who can't feel pain can't feel anything else, either."

The briefest flash of anger washed over Ada before her practiced calm returned. "Let's see if you still feel that way when this night is over."

Leon gaped at the assembled shotgun he held in his hands. "How the…what did you…?"

Dante grinned. "Told you. And it's even fully loaded, because I'm such a nice guy."

"…How exactly did you turn one shotgun…into an entirely different one?!"

"I deal with shotguns all the time, so I know what makes 'em tick. Just be careful with it; a pro like me can handle the recoil, but you might have a little trouble."

 _That…doesn't even begin to make sense_ , Leon thought as he rolled his eyes. "So says the mercenary to the police officer. Why don't we wait and see when the next monster comes around?"

There was a loud crash, and then the sound of several things dropping onto the platform outside, followed by gurgling and hissing sounds.

"Leon, Leon…" Ada sighed. "You should have known better."

"…Yeah." He reattached the strap to the shotgun and slung it around his back. "Looks like we've got no choice. Let's get this over with." He led the others out of the train car, but as the door shut behind them, they could hear the lock click. "Oh, perfect; we can't get back in now."

Claire looked around the descending platform. Misshapen creatures were surrounding them, all of which seemed very similar; while they had the hairless legs and basic torso of a human, there were hairy, multi-jointed legs sprouting from their back and a multi-eyed head with facial pincers. There was no doubt in her mind that they had been made by Umbrella; the mixture of attributes from both humans and spiders was by no means natural. In fact, every movement they made seemed clumsy and painful. Maybe if they were quiet and snuck up on-

"Look what we have here!" Dante announced cheerfully. "Guess Umbrella people are big fans of Spider-Man."

 _Of course_ , she thought irritably as every single arachnoid's head turned to stare at them. She swung her grenade launcher around, firing at a spider just far away enough to avoid catching the team in the force of the blast.

Chaos erupted, and soon they were all firing at the experimental monsters. The spider-hybrids were surprisingly agile, often trying to leap at them while swiping with their legs.

Leon's new shotgun took all of them except Dante by surprise when its very first shot blasted off one of the experiments' heads, along with half its torso. "DAMN!" Leon yelled as the shotgun bucked in his hands. "The hell did you do to this thing?!"

"Told you!" Dante called gleefully to him as he tucked his own shotgun away in favor of Rebellion. "Even better than a giant newspaper." He drew the large blade, slicing an approaching hybrid vertically in half. "Please tell me you don't have exploding babies…" Though the remains hissed and melted after falling, there were no small spiders that crawled out of them. "I can live with that."

Claire was sticking mostly with her flame grenades, since they didn't have quite the same force as the regular rounds did. The upside to this was that there were a few spider-things that caught fire just by being near one that she'd hit. The downside was that she was rapidly running out of them. "Just how many of these things are there?!"

Ada, while firing her machine gun, was thinking quickly. _Something isn't right…why aren't they trying to swarm us all at once? They almost seem confused about something._ She had only barely finished her thought when the few remaining spiders all began clicking their pincers furiously while backing up slowly. Ada and her associates stopped firing to observe this strange behavior more, and once they had, it only became stranger; one by one, the hybrids began to cling to the walls of the elevator shaft, disappearing as the platform descended further and further down.

From the other side of the train car, another figure approached them. It wasn't one of the half-spiders, but it did have extra limbs; there were two larger ones with enlarged shoulders, and two just below them that were sprouting from the creature's sides. The creature's left foot had half-foot talons jutting out of it, and an odd formation of flesh was on its upper thigh. Its head was almost solid bone, with long teeth bared in an emotionless feral grin. What looked like a face was visible on its left pectoral, and a few strips of what looked like a white shirt and blue jeans were dangling from the mutant by the barest of threads.

Its shoulders shuddered before one opened up to reveal a large, bloodshot eyeball; seeing it jogged Leon's memory. "Look, Dante! It's the amateur slugger from before."

"Such a shame," said the Devil Hunter in mock disappointment. "Every time they get to the big leagues, they pump up on steroids…"

The monster walked slowly over to a spider-hybrid that had not yet left. The deformed beast seemed to cower slightly before leaping into the air, opening its pincers and hissing as it dropped back down. It stopped abruptly as the mutant raised the right large arm, impaling the experimental creature with its claws. The hybrid twitched, staring at its gutted abdomen. With no other preamble, the large mutant brought the arachnoid to its bared teeth and began to devour it.

"Well, that's one way to get your protein," Leon muttered, a disgusted look on his face.

Moments later, the mutant had finished consuming its prey. With a loud hiss, its skin began to shudder and the creature changed. Its left arm grew bigger, an eyeball opening in its shoulder as well before the left hand grew claws nearly as long as the right hand's. The formation of tissue on its left thigh became another yellow eyeball, and the right foot grew bone claws that matched its left foot. The smaller arms unfurled from the creature's chest, developing several clawed fingers of their own. Its chest pulsed and bulged outward, with what looked like small teeth forming in a circle around it.

Ada, meanwhile, had her mind racing. _Of course; this must be what she was talking about. And the G-Virus wouldn't account for the extra mass needed to make it transform and heal; so that's where he gets it!_

"Well, big guy," Dante said, sizing up their foe, "looks like you had quite a meal there. But I don't think it was very healthy. How about we add a little iron to that diet?" He drew his blade, racing at the monster.

"Don't get too close or we can't-" Claire began, but he'd already charged ahead. _He always has to do that, doesn't he?_ To her surprise, however, the creature jumped right over the white-haired man's attack, landing behind him and advancing straight at her. "Go for the eyes!" she called out, firing her pistol at the large eyeballs set into the monster's shoulders. Leon and Ada followed her lead as they all backed away from their enemy.

"Scared, huh? Smart, but it won't make any difference." Dante walked towards the enemy, quirking an eyebrow as yet another yellow eyeball opened on the creature's back. "How many of those things do you have?" He launched forwards to skewer the monster, but it whirled around to bat aside his attack. "So you _can_ see with those things."

It hissed at him, and both its large arms began to shake. Its hands opened wide, and what looked like fanged worms emerged from each palm, dropping onto the metal platform.

"Yikes, and they say tapeworms are bad." He replaced the sword on his back, drawing his shotgun and blasting the newly-appeared creatures, which exploded rather messily. "Sorry, but you're already enough of a pest; you don't need any more help."

The monster clenched its four fists and jumped up into the air again, landing atop the train car. Growling at them, its large arms began to shudder once more, but this time it went on for a few seconds. As the assembled group raised their firearms to point at the creature, it pointed its own arms back at them.

A warning rang out in the back of Dante's mind. _That looks just like when the Blades…_ He hastily stuffed the shotgun back into his coat and drew his pistols. The Devil Hunter fired rapidly as the claws burst forward with spurts of high-pressure blood; the bullets deflected the claws into the sides of the elevator shaft before they could impale him or his allies. "This isn't a nail salon, pal, but we can make it a sauna just for you! Claire, hit it!"

She fired a flame round at the creature, coating its chest in a carpet of flame on impact. Leon began firing with his Desert Eagle, and Ada began to unload the last of her machine gun ammo on their foe. Dante, meanwhile, swapped his pistols out for Rebellion once more, flinging the sword at the beast. It cut into the mutant over and over like a malicious helicopter blade, and the monster curled its multiple arms inward in an attempt to shelter it from the continuous assault, the claws of its large arms already re-grown. The Devil Hunter snapped his fingers, his trusty sword obediently returning to him. The mutant gave a guttural roar before crouching slightly, and then jumping at the wall of the elevator shaft, impaling the metal with its claws to secure itself as the elevator continued its steady

descent.

The others stopped firing, and several tense seconds went by before they finally stood down. "The freaks sure are persistent in this place," Claire muttered as she re-slung her grenade launcher.

"They must like you," Leon teased, holstering his own pistol.

"Oh haha," she said, rolling her eyes. "Actually, they're probably going after Dante. Can't say I blame them; anyone with a sword that can defy the laws of physics is probably too dangerous."

"Yes, about that…" Ada said, staring at the white-haired man.

"You're welcome for saving you from those claws," the man in red responded flippantly. "Maybe next time I'll just-"

The elevator came to an abrupt halt, and a red light came on at the panel with the key.

"Ugh, what now?" Leon groaned. He looked at the writing under the light. "'Engines overheated'. Well, that's just great."

"There's a ventilation cover here," Ada called, pointing to a metal grate. "We might need to activate some sort of cooling procedure to get down to the lab."

Claire nodded. "Okay. Leon, you and I should go through and see what we can find. Dante, you wait here with Ada."

"I veto that," Dante said, frowning. "If the baddies down here are anything like our four-armed friend, you'll need all the help you can get."

"Our four-armed friend is still out there," she responded testily. "You need to-"

"I'll be fine," Ada cut in. "I'll wait inside the train car for you."

"But…"

"Don't worry, I've got plenty of backup," she said, patting her machine gun. "But the quicker you get the elevator moving again, the quicker we can get to the lab."

An image of Lady flashed through Dante's mind. "You heard her. Let's get going; I'll take the bulky stuff until we're through."

Ada watched them go through the vent one-by-one, thinking to herself. _Perfect…once they're out of the way, I can finally get what I came for. Sorry, Leon, but it looks like we'll have to say goodbye soon…_

* * *

CHAPTER END

Author's Note: And now everyone is getting to the underground lab. Things are really going to pick up soon, and we definitely haven't seen the last of the G-Creatures. Hope you enjoyed the chapter! If I've made any typos, plotholes, or other mistakes, let me know and I'll tune them up.

Also, to SereneCrosstamer: Sorry it's a bit late, but hope that it was an okay read. If it makes up for it, the next chapter is on its way very soon! :-)

Until next time, everyone!


	23. 22: Wreckage of the Mad Experiment

Annette followed the direction of Nero's pointing finger with her eyes. "Ah, that? That's the 'Mystery Monolith', as the R&D team so elegantly put it. The company has been puzzling over that one for decades. Umbrella discovered it when they were excavating back in…" She broke off, shaking her head. "It doesn't matter. It's got no relevance to our current situation."

"Wrong," Nero growled through clenched teeth. "That thing's way more dangerous than the zombies wandering around. We need to destroy it right now."

"Why?" The scientist stared intensely at Nero. "Do you know something about that object?"

"Damn right I do; that's a Hell Gate!" Everything was making so much sense now… _That blood demon, those lizard ones, Karkinos…maybe even the crazy messed-up zombies might be thanks to this. But how the hell did it get here…?_ "Stand back; I'll take it down."

"Hold on!" Annette hissed. "We can't draw too much attention to ourselves, or the t-vectors might all swarm us! And regardless of that, we're not doing _anything_ until my daughter is cured."

Nero glared at her. "Leaving that gate standing _will_ bite us in the ass."

"And what would you do if it were _your_ loved one? Would _you_ let them become a monster? You've seen what that kind of creature is capable of firsthand; do you want another one running amok?"

Nero felt a soft hand rest on his shoulder. Glancing back, he saw Kyrie silently shaking her head. He clenched his fist, but slowly lowered it. "No. Two is enough as it is. But the instant we get your daughter taken care of, I'm smashing this thing to pieces."

"…Wait, did you say 'two'?"

* * *

Claire slid from the ventilation shaft, falling into two pairs of waiting arms. "Thanks," she said as they helped her onto her feet. "So this is Umbrella's secret lab?" The section they were in looked more utilitarian than sterile; thick electrical cables were running across both walls, with corrugated steel floors and visible air ducts. "It looks like we're in the power sector."

Leon nodded, taking his shotgun back from Dante. "There's only one door we can go through; let's hope it leads to the coolant pumps."

"And a backup power system to boot," she added hopefully, taking her grenade launcher from Dante's hands. "What is it, Dante? You're really quiet."

He forced a smile onto his face. "Oh, nothing. Just thinking about how much this is gonna cost you once we're safe."

"Our undying gratitude and a cold drink every week?" Leon suggested as they walked towards the door.

"If the gratitude is green, rectangular, and valuable, sure."

The door had a twist-type lock identical to the sewer door that had been next to the chess puzzle; thankfully, that meant it was easy to open for Leon. The area beyond looked like it had been taken straight from a factory; there were hissing pipes, crates, and a large cargo elevator that they took down to a large walkway. With only one door on their level, they went through it, taking another elevator down and out yet another door. Immediately after doing so, Leon and Claire covered their faces reflexively. _Damn, that's hot!_ Leon thought to himself. _With all the bubbling coming from below, we must be right above a smelting pit. What the hell is that doing in a laboratory?!_

Dante quirked his head at a Licker that was sitting on the catwalk in front of them, blocking their path. "Aw, that's cute; he thinks he's stopping us." The creature, upon hearing Dante's voice, scurried at them, hissing furiously, but a loud gunshot rang out as it froze in its tracks. Dante strode past it, the barrels of his shotgun smoking as the mutant finally toppled over, its brain matter coating the far wall. At the end of the catwalk was a switch simply marked "Elevator Power". Shrugging, he flipped it to the "On" position. "You think that did it?"

"Only one way to find out," Claire responded. They retraced their steps back to the corridor they'd landed in, stopping at the vent cover that had fallen once Dante (who had been first through the vent) crashed through it. She surveyed the distance between the floor and duct. "…It's too far. We'll need to find another way up."

"By that time the damn elevator will be air-dried," Dante said irritably. "Just let me toss you both up and you can climb through."

"And how are we supposed to climb straight up a metal air duct?" she retorted.

"We don't," Leon's voice called out. They turned to look at him; he was standing next to a large metal door that had just opened. "I guess this was the elevator that we gave power to."

"Hey, alright!" Dante said as they rejoined him. They all stepped into the elevator, the doors closing behind them. "Top floor, Mr. Elevator Operator."

Leon pressed the Up button, and they waited. And waited.

"Try pressing it again."

Even as he fixed Dante with a "Really?" look, he pressed the button. Nothing happened that time, either.

Claire looked at the back of the elevator, searching for something that might help them. There was an electronic display that said something about an emergency escape route, but that it required an "Administrator key" to activate. _That should come in handy later, but it won't help us right now. Although…_ According to the display, the elevator was already at the top of its path. It looked like there was only one way to go.

"Maybe we hit the weight limit."

"What, are you sayin' you have a fat head?"

"Or maybe I'm saying that arsenal you have stuffed into your coat-"

"That's not the problem here."

Claire stepped past the two, thumbing the Down button. The elevator gave a small jolt, and then whirred rapidly downward.

"Uh, Claire? That's the wrong way," Dante felt the need to point out.

"It's the only way," she said tiredly. "We'll just have to keep looking for a cooling system further down."

Before he could argue further, the elevator came to a stop. They exited to find over a dozen zombies strewn around the floor. "Looks like we're late to the party."

Claire ignored him, making her way to what looked like a security office door. She opened it, and the other two followed her through. She let out a sigh of relief as she saw Sherry and Lady lying on a cot inside. "We finally made it. You two pick up some supplies for us." Dante gave Lady a brief look before nodding, joining Leon in rummaging through the supplies. Claire looked over the two; they didn't seem to be in any pain yet, and both were asleep.

She got ready to leave when she noticed a shiver pass over Sherry. The poor girl; she'd been so strong throughout the whole ordeal that she put most adults to shame. _I don't know if it's bad dreams or being cold, but…well, maybe it might help if…_ She undid the straps of the cracked body armor, tossing it aside.

Leon, meanwhile, was picking up two cases of grenade rounds. _Judging by the colors, I'd say these are probably fire and acid. Claire will be happy with that._ He turned toward her, and then blinked in surprise. "Claire?"

Claire finished zipping up her jacket; a jacket that was now around Sherry rather than her. _Hang in there, Sherry. We'll get you that antidote as soon as we can._ She stood up, readjusting the bandolier and knife sheath before accepting the cases of grenades from Leon. He gave a nod, and then turned to what looked like a locker door made out of solid steel.

"Claire?" came a soft voice behind her.

Claire cringed slightly, but by the time she turned to look at Sherry, a calm smile was firmly in place. "Sorry if we woke you. How are you feeling?" She knelt down next to the cot.

"Tired." She rubbed her eyes, and then lowered her hands as she noticed the jacket around her. "Isn't this yours?"

"It's okay, you hang onto it. It's always brought me luck before, so it should help keep you safe until your mom gets back." A sad look came over the young girl's face. "Well, if you don't like it, you don't have to…"

"No, it's not that. Just…I can't remember the last time that I spent this much time with my family. Mom and Dad were always busy because of work, and I was an only child, so I mostly grew up alone…" She sniffled. "It feels…nice to have someone to talk to for once." She turned away from Claire, sobbing quietly for a few moments before drifting back off to sleep.

Claire sighed. _The nightmare is almost over. Trust us, Sherry; we'll be there to-_ Her musings were cut off as Sherry shifted in her sleep, accidentally opening the locket she wore. Examining it, the college student felt a great swell of pity as she saw the family picture within. There was Annette, smiling proudly…there was William, without horrific mutations and looking like he didn't have a care in the world…and between them was Sherry, laughing happily and freely. _Let's see if you still feel that way when this night is over,_ Ada's words echoed in her head. She shook her head, pushing them away. She stopped as something on the locket caught her eye; it looked as if the framed photo inside could rotate on a small pin. Curiosity overtaking her, she swiveled the small picture outward to reveal…

She had to hold back a gasp upon seeing the vial containing purple liquid inside the locket. _That's a sample of the G-Virus! But what is it doing in her…_ Her gaze hardened as Annette's face flashed through her mind. _So her research was more important than her daughter's life, was it? Well…we'll just see about that._ She took the vial, replacing the picture and re-closing the locket. _I'm not letting those monsters get their hands on more of this,_ she thought, stuffing it in one of her empty ammo pouches. _Not after what it's done to her._

Claire stood up, looking at the now-sleeping young girl. _Sherry…we'll be right back as soon as we've got an antidote for both of you. Please, hang in there just a little longer…_ She blinked suddenly as she saw Dante edge into her field of vision. As she watched, he reached out a hand to brush one of Lady's locks of hair away from her eyes. He sighed, and then turned around without a word. "Dante." He stopped. "We'll get her a cure," she said gently.

"Yeah," was his only reply.

"Hey, Claire, c'mere." Leon called over to her, holding one of the lockers open. She walked over as she took the grenades from the cases and placed them in her bandolier. "You mind helping out with those handy lockpicks of yours?"

She nodded, getting to work with the lock on the door. After a few minutes, she turned the lock and looked at Leon. "Shall we?" They both pulled the handle of the surprisingly heavy door open, their eyes widening as they saw what was inside. "That's awfully nice of them," she commented dazedly.

Inside were several sets of upper body armor that looked as if they had been pulled straight from a science fiction movie. The dark blue fiber mesh of the outfits were covered in what looked like some kind of white ceramic plating, from the neck all the way to the fingerless gloves. All had the text " _Umbrella Security Service_ " stenciled on them, and hanging next to each were what looked like a set of knee pads.

"Finally, I can throw this thing away." Leon pulled off the heavily-padded body armor, throwing it on the floor near Claire's own discarded vest. "I'll take function over fashion every time, but it'll be nice not to be wearing something that makes me look like a big comfy couch."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Claire muttered, not knowing quite why she felt slightly stung by his words. She changed into one of the sets of body armor, testing the way it fit her. The range of motion available was incredible; the different plates moved and slid together so smoothly it was almost like they weren't there at all. The only problem was where to fit her knife sheath. It had been easy enough to pin it to her jacket, or her t-shirt. But where to put it on the armor…?

She turned to Leon, who gave her a knowing, sheepish grin. "I wouldn't know; I lost mine a while ago during that whole incident with the helicopter." He gave Dante a look as he finished adjusting his own set of armor. "That was my good knife, by the way, so thanks for that."

Claire started slightly; she'd almost forgotten he was there too, he'd been so quiet. She looked over to him in concern, opening her mouth to offer some consolation about how they'd get Lady and Sherry cured in no time…

But it was at that point that she saw him turning a map in several different directions with a baffled look on his face. Claire closed her mouth instantly, positive that she'd never felt sorry for him in the first place. "Having fun?"

Dante looked at her over the top of the map. "Hmm? Oh, you're done? Took you long enough; let's get movin'!"

Claire and Leon looked at each other, shrugged, and then grabbed up all their weapons. Claire slung the bandolier over her, along with the grenade launcher, before setting her sheathed knife on the floor near the cot. _I hope you won't need it, but just in case. We'll be back soon; I promise._

They left the office, following the map in the direction of the "Cold Room". Taking the only unlocked door that was there apart from the elevator did make things somewhat easier, admittedly. They found themselves in a massive circular shaft, with walkways leading in to a central hub and lit by only the barest minimum of lights. Though they couldn't see very well, they could hear the gentle sloshing of water around them. "Sheesh, talk about a safety hazard," came Leon's voice. "One slip up in this lighting and you go right in the drink."

As soon as they'd reached the hub, Dante went still. "Hold up, you two," he said to his allies, scanning around. "I think there's something here…"

"You think there's something it the water?" Claire asked, looking back in the direction they had come from.

"I dunno. Maybe." He inhaled deeply, but didn't seem satisfied. "I can smell blood here, but that could mean anything. Stay on guard, and let's keep moving; always tougher to hit a moving target."

They nodded, following him past an odd machine and across one of the other walkways; this one was lit with blue lights. As they did, a shape rose ever so slowly from the water, tracking their progress. Once they'd gone through the door at the end, it blinked, and gently sank back below.

The hallway the group had entered was slightly better lit than the main shaft, but that wasn't saying much. Still, the "Cold Room" was easy enough to find; the door was covered with a thick layer of frost that only barely obscured the room's label. Dante turned the door handle, and ushered them inside.

Claire instantly wrapped her arms around herself. "D-Damn that's c-c-cold!" she hissed, her teeth chattering. "Let's flip the switch and g-get the h-hell out!"

Dante looked down at her exposed legs. "Well, whose fault is it that you're chilly? Who wears short shorts in a place with ice?" He frowned. "…besides Lady?"

"H-How w-was I supposed t-t-to know?! It's not w-winter yet, I don't have m-my long jeans-s!"

Leon ignored the two bickering, walking past them and a bottle of first aid spray to find a large machine. To his disappointment, there was nothing to be found for the elevator's cooling system. There was, however, a system to order up a new main fuse; and according to the machine, that was the ticket to getting the rest of the lights back on. With no better option, he got to work. The procedure was surprisingly easy; like playing one of those crane catcher games, except it wasn't rigged. Soon enough, the fuse was set into its proper case, and the main fuse rose out of the machine, ready for use. Leon took it ( _shit_ , that was cold…) and walked back to the other two, who were still sniping back and forth.

"…because I don't w-want my legs cooked by the d-damn motor!"

"Oh, please, the motor doesn't get _that_ hot."

"It d-does cross-country!"

Leon cleared his throat. "Well, that didn't fix the elevator, but this should get all the power systems working again. If we're lucky, the coolant systems will kick in automatically."

Claire's look shifted immediately from irritated to grateful. "Then l-let's get out of h-here!" They exited the cold room, Claire still shivering. "When this is-s all over, I'm looking f-forward to a hot meal."

"Well, don't get too relaxed," Dante advised her, "or you'll end up being a hot meal for something else."

Claire glared at him, but the advice was reasonable enough that she didn't retort.

They returned to the main area, the water still sloshing softly around them. They made their way back to the hub area, and Leon looked at the machine in the middle. "I should start carrying a flashlight for stuff like this," he thought aloud, running his hands over the machine. Though slightly dulled by the cold feeling of the new fuse, his fingers were still able to recognize the feel of the old fuse and remove it. "Okay…let there be light."

The instant before Leon had put the fuse into the machine, Dante felt the air around them shift somehow, and he tensed. _Oh, come on…not now, of all times…_

* * *

CHAPTER END

Author's Note: A little bit of familiar territory from both the crossover universes in this chapter. I don't know if I'm doing a very good job with the atmosphere; setting up scary environments works a lot better with a good soundtrack. Either way, let me know what you think!

The next chapter is on its way very quickly; we'll find out just what might be in store for our heroes then.

...'Then' being tomorrow. See you soon. ;-)

Next Chapter: Water Devil


	24. 23: Water Devil

The main fuse spun into the apparatus, locks folding in and engaging. With a simultaneous set of loud clicks, lights came on everywhere, illuminating the main shaft and the dark blue water surrounding them.

However, barely a second after, Dante's ears caught a familiar, hated sound.

He heard the telltale sign of a demonic seal activating over the doors leading out of the shaft. A sigh of frustration escaped him. "Look, I don't have time to play right now. Can we take a rain check?" he called out.

A distorted, rumbling laughter echoed throughout the area. **"Such a casual tone. You live up to your reputation, Son of Sparda."** The voice was ponderous and condescending, as if each word was a supreme honor to their ears.

Claire looked around. "What's going on?"

The Devil Hunter cracked his knuckles with a resigned look. "Reload quick; we're about to get serious here."

" **Untainted humans don't come through here very often anymore; it's been ages since the last feed of mine. The famous Dante may be a difficult catch, but…the difficult catches are always the most savory."**

Just as Claire put a fresh clip into her handgun, a very large translucent blue tendril rose from the water below. Bizarrely, it seemed to have a hand at its tip, the fingers flexing and a blinking red eye in the middle of the palm. Scanning the rest of the arm -would you call it an arm?- the side facing them seemed to be covered with suction pads like an octopus's tentacles; unlike those, however, each cup had a large, sharp tooth in their center. The other side was covered in odd red circular bumps that were glowing dimly. "What the hell was Umbrella playing with this time?" she asked in wonder.

"This isn't their handiwork. You're looking at a bona fide Greater Demon."

"A ' _greater_ demon'? Worse than the ones we've taken down already?" Leon sighed. "My life is nuts."

Several more arms reached through the water around them. **"I do not recognize your companions. Are they your protégés, perhaps? No matter, they may fight with you; appetizers for the main course."**

Dante smirked. "Don't count 'em out so soon, especially with ME training them." He stretched out his arms. "Sorry, but I'm sort of in the middle of something. Speed through the introductions and let's get to the part where I serve you up as sushi."

More echoing laughter rang out, and then a massive shape began rising from the water between the walkways. It was a large, almost cloud-like bulb nearly thirty feet in diameter that they could see right through. Its interior pulsed with a blue-white glow; if Claire didn't know they were up against a monster from Hell, she would have called it oddly beautiful. But the illusion was banished as the voice rang out again, the light of the bulb flickering in time with the words. **"I doubt you can defeat me so easily, but if you wish to make haste, so be it. I am the Predator of the Aqueous Void Tangaroa, General of the Abyss Hell. I'll strangle you with the crushing weight of the deep!"** And with a mighty splash, the bulb and hands dove under again. Claire, Leon and Dante readied their weapons.

"Hang in there, kids. Take this thing down, and the small fry'll be a piece of cake. Might even think about givin' you a discount, since you're helping me with this one."

"Thanks," Leon grumbled, watching the water's surface carefully.

"If we kill it first, do we have to pay you at all?" Claire suggested.

Dante grinned. "Why don't you try, and we'll find out then?"

There was no further chance for talk, as the battle had begun. One of the demon's appendages burst from the water, racing straight for the hub they were all standing in. "Scatter!" Leon ordered, and he and Claire split up; he went to the walkway with blue lights, and Claire took the one with white lights. They couldn't spare any support for their partner, because other tentacles began swiping at them from the swirling water.

Dante, meanwhile, grappled with the giant hand at the end of the waggling feeler, his own preternatural strength more than enough to keep the demon's grip from closing. "If you're lookin' for a high five, this is the wrong way to get one!" Past the azure fingers, he could see another tentacle lashing out towards him from the direction of the red-lighted walkway. "Stubborn, huh? Well, so am I!" He gave a surge of strength, pushing the arm away from him slightly and drawing Ivory in a blur of motion, firing three rapid shots into the hand's eye at point-blank range. He jumped up as the arm lunged forward furiously, drawing Rebellion with his left hand. _Glad Nero's not here to see this one._ He dropped downward, the Devil Arm stabbing straight through the arm and into the metal grating beneath it. _And that's the only move I'll need to borrow; the rest is all me!_ With a crackle of white and purple lightning, Alastor appeared on his back. He holstered his white pistol as the skewered arm writhed in agony nearby, drawing the Devil Arm and launching himself at the approaching demon's arm.

Claire, in the meantime, ducked under the swipe of one of the arms attacking her, fending off another with a grenade. She'd barely seen the round impact the offending hand before leaping out of the way of a third arm. She brought up her launcher again, but had to release it to dodge away from the first arm. Twice more she tried to fire, but abandoned both attempts when one of the demon's tentacles swiped at her. _I barely have time to breathe, let alone attack! How many arms does this demon have?!_

Leon, meanwhile, was also having a bit of trouble. The R.P.D. officer was just managing to keep from being knocked in the water by the giant hands, so that wasn't the problem. And he hadn't lost any of his guns, so that wasn't it, either. The real issue was that he was struggling to come up with a good strategy, especially with his enemy keeping him on the move. Leon was far from stupid; the large eyes in the middle of the hands were obviously going to be weak spots, so of course they would make for ideal targets. The problem was that their enemy was all too aware of this particular fact, and was either swiping at them with the sides of its hands or with closed fists. _There's got to be some way to get its hands open…_ He chanced a look over at Dante, who was darting back and forth as his blade sliced into one of the giant arms; he saw electricity arc over the blade, and his eyes lit up even as he turned them back to the tentacles that were almost upon him. _No guarantee it'll work the same way on a demon, but worth a shot!_ "Dante! Turn up the juice on that thing and fry this sucker!"

The Devil Hunter grinned. "You got it!" He stood his ground as two blue arms wound through the air towards him, hands opening like snakes prepared to strike. He waited for the perfect opportunity; just before both hands were upon him, he stabbed forwards repeatedly in a blur of motion, wounding the hands dozens of times each second as the sheer number of stinging stabs kept them at bay. With a yell of "Spark it UP!", he skewered one of the hands at the same time a surge of power flowed through the blade, moving down from the hand all the way to its source. There was a rapid flickering of light beneath them, and all the creature's hands shook in place, their hands flying open. "He's cooked; now how about some seasoning?"

Claire and Leon each drew their strongest weapons; his Desert Eagle and her grenade launcher. Loading an explosive round into her grenade launcher, she fired it at one of the hands as Leon put three shots of his own into another hand. Without releasing Alastor, he beckoned to Rebellion, which flew to his other hand. He yanked Alastor free from the demon's hand, and gave it an X-shaped slash from both his swords as it retreated under the water, along with the other arms.

Leon grinned as the faint smell of ozone permeated the air, even while he fought to settle his heart rate and get his breath back. "Next time…you want a meal, stick…with tuna."

There was silence for a moment, and then Tangaroa's voice rang out again; the worst part of which was that it sounded amused rather than hurt. **"Not bad. Not bad at all, my prey. It seems that you are not quite as easy as the others. I should have expected nothing less from the Son of Sparda and his students."**

"Hey, having friends helps," Dante said, gesturing towards the other two. "Now look; there's something we need to do. Let's put this on hold for a little while, and we'll be right back; then we can play as much as you like."

There was a sound that echoed so much, it was almost unrecognizable as a snort. **"'On hold'? Now? I don't think so; not when I haven't had fun like this in decades. Besides, what mockery of a demon lets their food escape so carelessly?"**

"Someone's life is at stake here!" Claire yelled.

" **As is yours, little morsel. If you wish to secure their life, then you must first keep hold of your own, yes?"**

"Fine," Leon said, holstering his handgun and swiveling his shotgun into a ready stance. "Then why don't you stop talking so we can kill you quickly?"

" **I like your confidence, human. I think I might save you for last; perhaps even keep you as a pet, come to that."**

"The three of us can take you down; you may be bigger, but we've got the advantage of numbers."

" **Are you so sure about that? You're not the only one with friends, you know…"** The water churned and roiled, and several shapes rose up from underneath the waves. What looked like five manta rays shot out of the water, circling around the shaft in midair; for demons, they were deceptively graceful. Their top halves were dark blue, bordering on black, and where the secondary fins would have been on a true manta ray (near the eyes and mouth), there were instead jet-black horns. The undersides were a sickly pale color, with a large circular mouth near the horns that was surrounded by six yellow eyes. There were three strange objects on the bottom side as well, but the demons were moving around too fast for Leon to get a good view of what they were, exactly.

"Nice one, Leon," Dante called over to him.

"Any time. We'll need to divide our forces if we want to make things easier."

"Yeah," Claire added. "Dante, we'll take the first one, and you get the rest." The manta rays chose that moment to dive-bomb them all, with one going for Dante and two each attacking Claire and Leon.

Gilgamesh appeared over the Devil Hunter's arms and legs as he crouched down, coiling up an attack as one of his gauntlets began to rumble. The instant before it was about to hit him, the gauntlet gave a flash of light and he launched upwards. "Rising Dragon!" The impact stunned the demon, knocking it slightly higher into the air as the Son of Sparda's momentum carried him up to meet it. His body twisted around, hands raised into the air before slamming down, causing the aquatic demon to plummet to the walkway with a crash. He flipped over, dropping down with his leg extended like a crimson guillotine to crush the grounded demon. It writhed soundlessly for a few moments before its body melted away, leaving only a puddle of blood that rapidly crystallized. "One down!" he called out.

Meanwhile, his companions were struggling slightly more with their opponents, which had split into pairs to fight Leon and Claire. Every time they got a clear shot at one of their enemies, the other would swoop in from another direction, making them dodge out of the way. _They just won't quit!_ Claire thought to herself in frustration. _How are we supposed to fight them when we're outnumbered two-to-one like this?_ She ducked under one of the demons, and it had barely swooped over her when its fellow followed right behind. She had to throw herself onto the walkway, just narrowly avoiding one of the horns skewering her through. _There's got to be a way to do this!_ She got to her feet, thankful that the kneepads and armor had prevented the walkway from becoming an impromptu cheese grater. As she did, her gaze fell upon the enclosed hub-type area that they'd set the fuse. _Wait…_ Her eyes flashed over the narrow doorway. _That could be it!_ "Leon! Get back to the fuse!"

He jumped to one side as one of the demonic rays swooped past him. "Won't that just make us an easy target?"

"Just trust me!"

Without another word, he rolled under the second ray, running back to the hub. Claire made it in at the same time he did, readying her grenade launcher as he prepared his shotgun. "Ready when you are."

Before they could discuss further, the demons launched at the doorways. They fired as one, blasting the two in the lead backwards. The other two moved fluidly around their injured comrades as the humans reloaded, jaws opening as they reached the doors…

And with two metallic _CLANG!_ sounds, their bodies collided with the door frames. Dazed, they floated backwards slightly, before a second round from the firearms hit them directly in their exposed faces. The demons dropped to the ground, where a third shot ended them. Their allies had barely begun swooping towards the humans before a fourth shot echoed out, killing the last two rays.

"Phew…" Leon said, feeding more shells into his shotgun. "That was a pretty good plan you had."

"Not bad for less than two seconds of thought, you think?"

"Not bad at all," he said, grinning.

"Are you two done yet?" Dante asked, tapping a foot. "I'm not gettin' paid by the hour here."

 _Speaking of less than two seconds of thought,_ Claire grumbled mentally.

Tangaroa spoke again, but its voice sounded far less detached than before. **"Mere** _ **humans**_ **killing Fornei? No, no, this simply will not do; the Son of Sparda is bad enough, but I won't have mortals embarrassing me on a hunt!"**

"Oh, cry me a river," Claire taunted. A wave of dark blue water rose, launching itself at the enclosed space where she and Leon were. They darted out onto the walkway where Dante was standing; he also seemed to be giving Claire a mocking look. "Don't say it," she said before he could even open his mouth.

"Take your own advice," he shot back.

Arms rose from the waves again; four this time. Rather than attacking the group directly, though, they began making swiping motions in the air. Waves rose around the three, stretching higher and higher over the walkway.

"You missed your calling as a traveling water park," the Devil Hunter said casually. "Leon, Claire, either grab onto something or get ready to run."

"I hate demons," Leon groaned.

"Welcome to the club."

The gathered waves began to crash down onto the walkway in sequence, starting from a spot right next to the main fuse enclosure and making their way towards the group. Leon and Claire slowly backed away from the waves towards the door at the far end of the walkway; it was covered in a translucent wall of faces, just like the one in the library. Dante, however, ran in the exact opposite direction. "What do you think you're doing?!" yelled Leon.

The man in red shot under a wave that was looming over him, just making it to the other side before it splashed onto the spot he'd been a second and a half before. "Well, what do you want, an engraved invitation?" he yelled back to them.

They gave each other an uneasy glance, but there really wasn't another ideal solution. As one, they sprinted towards the crashing waves that were getting closer to them, diving under one that had just reared up. With a mere second to spare, they reached the other side, watching the waves continue their pattern.

 _I've had just about enough of this._ Leon walked back to the middle of the catwalk and drew his Desert Eagle, firing at the arms that were still making hand motions. His first and second shots missed, but the third managed to score a direct hit on the eye embedded into a tendril's palm. The hand recoiled sharply, retracting rapidly into the pool of water. Waves were beginning to rise around them again, but there were less this time. _Of course!_ "Concentrate fire on the eyes!" He didn't waste time checking to see if they'd heard, instead firing at a second hand.

Claire rushed to comply, joining him and firing a grenade at one of the other hands. It went slightly off-target, hitting the fingers above the eye, but the explosive force did the trick; that hand sank under the water as well.

Dante, grinning, pulled the anti-tank rifle Spiral from his coat. "With pleasure!" His shot pierced through the eye he'd aimed at the same time another shot from Leon hit the other exposed eye. Both tendrils disappeared under water.

" **If I can't bring the morsels to my mouth…"** The glowing bulb began to rise once more, and it was flickering very slightly even when the demon wasn't talking. It rose higher than before, and Leon could see a strange, ribbed rim around the bottom of it. **"…then perhaps I shall feast on them directly."** The outer membrane of the bulb began to peel back slightly, and the rim at the bottom began to pulse as if moved by a massive heartbeat. With a violent motion and a mighty splash, the demon shot from the water, changing as it did; the rim opened up, revealing the underside of the demon as it flew through the air towards them. It was a massive gaping mouth, lined with rows and rows of teeth. Its arms were trailing in its wake; nine in total, and longer than several buses.

There was no time to think; only time to act. Leon raced across the walkway towards the sealed door. Claire ran in the opposite direction, towards the main fuse. Dante fired a shot from Spiral before rolling to the side. They had moved just in time; the demon's mass missed all of them (Dante's coat inches from one of the exposed fangs) and hit the wall behind them with an almighty crash. They fired a few shots at the glowing core of the demon's body as it seemed stuck there, but merely two seconds later the demon had wrenched itself free, and its large body dropped into the water with an equally large splash.

"Haven't seen that many teeth since that job at the docks…" Dante muttered to himself. "You guys hanging in there?" he asked the other two.

"I'm alive. Might not go swimming ever again, though…" responded Claire.

"Agreed. I'll have nightmares about that for a week on top of the rest of this madness…" added Leon.

Dante rolled his eyes. "What a couple of whiners."

" **You're far more formidable than I would have expected from your kind, humans. No doubt your master is proud of you."**

"Who are you calling 'master'?" Claire called out indignantly.

"Would you stop pretending you're the biggest, baddest demon there is?" said Dante. "No matter what you throw at us, you're still gonna-"

" **Do you honestly think that was the full extent of the power I wield? A true hunter determines the capabilities of their prey before closing in for a thorough kill. You may be skilled, but now I know your limits. And even the Son of Sparda has his weak points."**

The red-coated man's eyes went wide. _Somebody's getting serious; that's gonna suck for the Hunters-In-Training._ "Hit the deck, you two!"

" **Say goodbye to your precious humans!"** the demon roared as several arms burst from the water and reached for the Devil Hunter's companions.

They all dodged again, but this time Tangaroa was ready for them. Of the six arms that had come out of the water, four went for Dante. He leapt up in the air to get out of their way, but the arms instantly changed course once he had; their true target had been his two comrades. "Sneaky squid!" He hurled Rebellion from his back as he took Alastor in hand.

The other two hands were waiting for his friends; they found their paths blocked by the giant blue palms at the end of the tentacles. Undeterred, Leon had his shotgun drawn and trained on one of the hands. "Lesson two," he mumbled to himself before firing. The blast covered the open hand in buckshot, eye included; as the giant appendage recoiled, he grabbed Claire's hand, and the two ran at full speed towards the hub, the other hand in rapid pursuit. They made it inside as the hand curled into a fist and slammed into the wall of the enclosure.

" **Quite good at finding shelter, aren't you? But a hiding place can easily become a trap."**

The other four arms closed in on the doorways they had not come in from, blocking them with closed fists. The hand outside the remaining door pointed a finger at the two inside, and Leon and Claire gaped as a huge pool of water formed in midair over them. "Let's move, Leon!" Claire shouted. They sprinted for the doorway, and were just outside it when they heard a loud splash inside. "I swear, if that undid our work from before…"

" **I do believe you've grown quite dependent on that foxhole of yours. Can you survive without it?"** The hand that had summoned the water rested over the doorway they'd come from, blocking it off.

Dante, meanwhile, had been fending off attacks from the rest of the demon's appendages in the air. They seemed to be getting irritated with him; probably at the fact that he kept using the tentacles themselves as springboards. Or maybe it was Rebellion delaying those four arms so that they couldn't close in on his friends from all directions.

"You call that a punch? I've seen better swings at a Little League game!"

Or maybe it was the attitude. …Probably the attitude.

Five more of the manta ray demons launched out of the water, but this time all made a beeline for the Devil Hunter. He laughed, cutting into them with Alastor and Rebellion. "That's right; bring all your pets out to play. I'll get you a group discount for your trip back to Hell!"

As the demons fell, the arms seemed to hang back slightly, as if trying to decide upon something. He didn't like it; demons that could second-guess were demons that had enough brain cells to be trouble. _You've been showing quite a few tricks already; what else do you have up all those sleeves of yours?_

After the arms seemed to share a look between them, they retreated under water immediately. The lights around them began to dim rapidly; in seconds, they were plunged into shadow. "The hell?" Leon called out. They could only barely see their surroundings; everything seemed to be lit in a dim red glow. "Don't tell me that fuse burnt out already…"

He heard something land beside him. "It's our pal from outta town," Dante told him. "Thinks he can catch us off guard with this, huh?"

Claire chanced a look over the railing down into the water below; there were a series of bright red lights undulating back and forth. Unseen by the other two, she frowned. _Red lights? What are those supposed to be?_ A set of them unfurled, slowly snaking their way up and out of the water. _Wait a minute…those bumps on its arms were red. If I aim past where the lights end, maybe…_ She waited until the red lights had formed a line that was nearly straight before firing a grenade at a point beyond them. The grenade hit the wall just past the arm; the resulting explosion lit up the area near the arm as the explosive force hit the exposed eye, and there was a flicker from the lights that had gone dark. "It's there! Aim for a spot past the red lights!" she called out.

The other two fired near the spot where her round had hit as she reloaded; several bullets peppered the open palm, blood leaking from it as the lights around them flickered.

"What the hell?" Leon called out. "Is this a battle to the death or a rave?"

"It can't be both?" Dante challenged as he fired shots rapidly.

There were several loud splashes, and then the lights flicked back on again; the arms had retreated once more, it seemed. **"Well then, you've got some brains. I like that in a meal; it's too bad most of the researchers here became walking corpses before I could feast on them."**

"So you're saying you haven't been here long, then?" Dante asked, his eyes scanning the room for movement. "How'd you get here, anyway? Catch a direct flight from Hell, or did you have to make a connection at Loch Ness?"

" **A Hell Gate, naturally. You didn't know? I'd assumed you came here to close it yourself."**

The Devil Hunter's eyes narrowed. "And just who opened one of those here?"

" **I would assume a human, given that there was no prior arrangement in place. Ask Karkinos if you care so much; she was here earlier than I."**

"Karkinos?"

"… **Ah, but I forget myself. You won't have any time to question her while you're dissolving in my gullet."** Five arms shot at Dante, and his trusty blade was in motion parrying them as rapidly as possible. He ducked and rolled and leapt, hoping that he could draw enough attention away from Leon and Claire to give them a chance with the remaining appendages.

There was a loud splash and a yell of "Damn!" He spun his head to look in the direction of the others; two demon rays were shooting up at the two from the lake of water. Dante cursed; the arms had kept him so occupied he hadn't bothered to check for the little demons. _Hang in there!_

Leon dodged out of the way of the approaching ray, but Claire wasn't quite so lucky. One of those strange formations on the underside of the rays had closed around her left arm, hauling her up into the air. As she tried to wrench it free, she drew her pistol with her other hand and fired at the other rays closing in around her. The bullets fended them off for the time being, but she still couldn't pull herself free…

The demon swooped through the air; rising high before dropping down at a sharp angle. It released Claire, flinging her at the water. She braced for impact, but felt herself sliding gently back down to the walkway. Blinking in confusion, she looked at the surface she was sliding on and saw…ice?

"Sorry, but this is a no-diving zone," Dante informed her as she slid neatly onto the metal grating. The ice cracked and shattered, dropping into the water and vanishing.

"Since when did you join the X-Men?!" Leon yelled, half exasperated and half relieved.

"What do you mean by an 'ex-man'?" he responded, a frown on his face as he tucked the ice-chucks back into his coat. "Some 'thank you' after I save her life…"

He rolled his eyes. "Never mind! Just…thanks and let's kill this thing!"

"Apology accepted."

He was about to respond when three arms rose from the water in front of them. This time, however, they were not attacking the group. A strange, squelching sound caught Leon's ear; it almost seemed like it was coming from-

Several things streaked through the air at blinding speeds towards them. Dante brought his sword in an arc in front of him, and there were several small metallic pings as objects bounced off the blade. His companions couldn't react in time; the objects pierced through the fabric of their armor, and they abruptly found themselves being pulled toward the arms.

Leon struggled against the drawing force, seeing the light in the room catch some sort of strand attached to the things that had caught him. _Dammit, if only I still had my knife!_ Try as he might, he just couldn't tear himself free…

Claire pulled with all her strength, fighting against the pull that was reeling her in as well. _Need something to cut these things off with…_ The image of her knife in the security office flashed through her mind. _No time for that now; think!_ Suddenly, she felt the force on her left arm release. She looked in that direction and saw Dante bringing his sword back up from the walkway. "Try to get the rest on your own; I gotta get Leon too!" She nodded, bracing her feet against the railing as she struggled with the continued pull. An opportunity came to her mind, but was it the right decision? _It's damaged anyway; better it than me!_ She reached her free arm behind her back, unzipping the back and yanking the buckles open. The instant the last one had been released, the torso armor flew from her shoulders towards the tendrils; with a tearing sound, the gloves were ripped free, and the armor was reeled in to the arm in tatters.

As Dante raised his sword, Leon was yanked abruptly off his feet; the strike ended up hitting nothing but air. He watched as the R.P.D. officer flew towards one of the tentacles, which wrapped around him.

" **Hmm, I'd wanted to grab both of you at once. No matter. It looks like I won't be sparing you after all, defiant mortal."** The tentacle began to squeeze, and Leon cried out in pain as the ceramic of his armor gave a loud crack.

"Leon!" Claire and Dante yelled.

" **Don't bother; I can end his life in but a moment. And don't think you'll save him with the lightning you command; try it on me and you electrocute the both of us. But don't let me stop you; draw your sword, if you dare. By the time you blink, he dies."**

The demon's words echoed in Dante's mind, awakening an old memory of a similar situation…

" _Trish!"_

" _ **DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT. BLINK, AND SHE DIES."**_

Dante's hand clenched, fury and power coursing through his body. _Not this time._ "Claire," he said calmly. "Mind using one of those yellow grenades on my signal?"

The change in his tone made chills run down her spine. She nodded mutely, her eyes fixed on Leon as her hands worked with the grenade round and launcher.

" **What delusions are running rampant through your mind, Devil Hunter? I have this human in my grasp; no matter what you do, there is no changing that. Now it is simply a question of whether-"**

" _Now._ "

Claire fired the round at the tentacle just below where Leon was being held, praying that whatever plan Dante had, it would be enough to save Leon's life.

" **Foolish human; my outer membrane cushions against all sorts of…what? This…this pain…!"** The tentacle writhed as the acid bubbled and hissed.

On the one hand, Leon was relieved to have the crushing pressure on him lifted, as he could breathe properly once more. On the other hand, the flailing of the tendril was making him so dizzy he could hardly see straight.

The instant the acid's hissing began to decrease in volume, there was a crackle of energy around Dante before, faster than Claire's eyes could follow, her ally blurred toward the place where her grenade had hit. There was a flash of steel, and a spray of dark blue blood, and the arm had been severed almost completely. The grip around Leon suddenly went slack, and he slipped out, falling down towards the water below…

He felt something grab his arms roughly, stopping his momentum for a second before he began a slightly slower path back to the walkway. Then he was released, falling onto something…

"Leon! Thank goodness." Claire's voice came from under him, though sounding slightly out of breath. He hurriedly got off her, helping her back to her feet. "I'm glad that worked. Are you…okay…" She trailed off as she looked above the demon's form. Leon followed her gaze, and understood what had distracted her.

Dante, or what he assumed was Dante, was attacking the demon's body relentlessly. He transitioned seamlessly from dive-bombing the glowing bulb in a spiraling motion to rising into the air and thrusting his hands at his foe. Lightning leapt from his fingertips, striking over and over again with a painful-sounding sizzle. A blade appeared in the figure's hands; he vaguely recognized it as the one that Dante usually had attached to his back. The being that was probably their friend dropped down onto the mass of the bulb with an echoing roar, piercing it with the sword.

" **This…is power of a Son of Sparda?! It can't be…!**

A loud laugh came from its foe. **"What's wrong; lost your appetite already?"**

" **S-stop! Stop it!"**

The blade cut into the gelatinous flesh of Tangaroa, piercing it over and over again so fast that even the rapid healing of the demon could barely keep up with the speed of the attacks. **"EEEYAH!"** With a burst of electricity, the form of the demon's attacker cut across the top of it, leaping into the air and spreading its wings as the bulb sank into the water, the arms flailing and churning up waves in desperation.

The figure slowly descended to the walkway, its wings giving a final, powerful flap before it landed. Leon stared at the form of what Dante had become. Its scaly skin was jet-black all over, with large, bat-like wings and a barbed tail trailing behind it. The eyes were glowing blue, with spiky white hair behind two horns that were protruding from the forehead and pointing directly at the ceiling. "Dante? Is…that you?"

The figure nodded, and then there was a mighty splash; Tangaroa was leaping at them again, its massive toothy mouth open in anticipation. This time it was flanked by several of the smaller demons. **"I'll leave the small ones to you"** , Dante's distorted voice informed them as it flew directly at the open mouth of the Greater Demon, curling into a spiral as he did.

Claire fired a grenade at the two that were coming towards her one above the other, knocking one out of the air and blinding the other. She reloaded as the blind one flew clumsily at her, ducking under its horns.

As for Leon, he wasn't really sure what made him do it, but he jumped up rather than ducking under the approaching demons. Since the ones coming at him were flying one after the other, that meant that somehow, he ended up landing on top of the lead one. Even as he inwardly marveled at the sheer ridiculousness of everything happening around him, his arms were already in motion, pointing his shotgun at the next ray and firing.

Dante, meanwhile, dove straight into the mouth of Tangaroa, spiraling like a drill cloaked in lightning. He cut through layer after layer of organs, flesh, and blood, bursting from the other side and hovering in mid-air. The giant demon crashed into the wall opposite, sliding down it to land limply in the water. Dante flew down to land on the walkway, his Devil Trigger ending. He saw Claire finish off one of the last two demon rays, and Leon was…riding on top of the other? "Maybe I taught you guys a little too well…"

Leon turned the shotgun downward, firing at the demon point-blank. The buckshot tore through it, and it dropped bonelessly towards the water, taking the R.P.D. officer with it. They splashed down, Leon swimming desperately back towards his friends and hoping that the big demon was too stunned to grab him. He saw Dante and Claire each holding an arm out, and he grabbed both, taking great gulps of air as they pulled him onto the (relatively) dry surface. "You…make it look…too easy," he gasped, fixing Dante with a searching look.

"You're not so bad yourself; just need more practice, is all."

"Let's hope…not." Leon gripped the railing, panting as he stared into the water. Claire broke open the barrel of the grenade launcher, feeding another round into it. Dante, meanwhile, was waiting for a sign of trouble.

" **Impressive, Devil Hunter. Your legends don't do your skills justice; I haven't had such a good hunt in eons."**

"Heh, damn right," Dante scoffed. "Sorry, but when it comes to doing what I do, I'm the best there is."

" **And you've managed to kill half my minions in the process."**

He shrugged in fake modesty. "What can I say? I'm not usually one for seafood…but I make an exception for fried devilfish."

" **Indeed. Our battle has made it abundantly clear; your skill surpasses mine. I accept defeat."** The massive bulb, leaking blue blood from several places, rose slowly from the water. It made a movement almost something like a bow.

Dante raised an eyebrow in surprise. "A graceful loser? Not many of those kinds of demons these days."

Leon caught his breath, straightening up. "I don't buy it. Are you going to try attacking us again?"

" **No. Unlike my brethren, I value my survival over my pride. And besides, a loss may be shameful, but refusing to accept one's loss is infinitely more so. If you will allow me, I shall surrender myself to your service."**

"You're gonna _help_ us?!" Claire blurted out. "You tried to _eat_ us, in case you forgot! And who knows how many other humans you've chowed down on since you've been here; I don't hear any remorse from you about them."

The Son of Sparda folded his arms. "Lesson six, you two. Times like these, you take all the help you can get. The friend you make today might save your life tomorrow."

Leon and Claire both blinked. _Since when did you get so poetic?_

He stared at Tangaroa. "You know what you have to do," he said quietly.

" **Of course. Wield me as you see fit; my power is yours."** The bulb shone one final time as the many hands rose from the water and curled gently around it. The light flashed brightly, and then the massive form was gone, and all the water with it; only a small glowing orb was left. Dante reached for it, and it obediently came to his hand. As he grasped it, the light stretched and bent; it dimmed, and they saw that it had become what seemed to be a long, dark blue rope curled under Dante's arm.

He grabbed its handle and shook it out; several cords flung wildly. Grinning, he whipped the cat 'o nine-tails several times in front of him. Spinning it around himself, he struck the surface of the walkway with it; as he did, the weapon shone brightly and a large wave crashed down in front of him. Laughing, he made slicing motions with the whip, sending arcs of water slamming into the steel walls. He gripped the handle with one hand and the cords with another, pulling it taut as he held it parallel to the ground, a bright light shining around him.

He examined his new weapon briefly; small red bumps like miniature versions of the glowing "jewels" of Tangaroa's arms ran along the entirety of the weapon, the handle was wrapped around his right hand as if molded for it, and the weapon itself was shimmering like rolling waves, like it was made of water condensed into a solid mass. He chuckled. "Oh, yeah; time to show all those demons who the boss is."

Both Claire and Leon were looking at Dante as he examined his new find. "Huh," Claire muttered. "I'm confused."

"Me too," Leon remarked. His eyes met Claire's for the briefest of moments. Then he shook his head, cleared his throat, and said -perhaps more loudly than necessary- "Well, now that that's done. Isn't there something else we should be doing? You know…antidote and all that?"

* * *

CHAPTER END

ENEMY FILE

 **New!** Tangaroa

-A Greater Demon hailing from the deepest trenches of the Abyss, who has come to the Human World through a Hell Gate. An experienced predator, it uses artificial light and power over the waves to wear its victims down before devouring them.

-As a high-ranking devil of the Abyss, Tangaroa can not only control water, but create it from surrounding air. Watch out for waves overtaking you from any direction, even from above.

-Beware the demon's many appendages; it will strike from multiple angles to overwhelm your defenses. Try to find a way to neutralize the arms or divide their focus.

-If the demon catches you, it will strangle without mercy and rapidly drain your life away. When this happens, break out of its grasp by unleashing your Devil Trigger!

-Tangaroa will summon waves of Forneus demons to its aid, and they will attack you in tandem with the tentacles. Don't give up hope even when being attacked from all sides; there is still a chance to counterattack.

-As it is a creature of the Abyss Hell, fighting Tangaroa underwater should be avoided at all costs. Do not allow it to pull you under the waves, or you will never surface again.

-If you do enough damage to its arms, the demon will surface and attempt to swallow you whole. It is vulnerable immediately before and immediately after this attack; strike without mercy while you have the chance!

-The barbs on the demon's tendrils can be fired at victims to reel them into its grasp. While incredibly quick, there is a telltale sound before they are sent out; pay attention to the noises the arms make and be ready to dodge at a moment's notice.

-When the demon senses its health has dropped significantly, it will try to absorb all surrounding light into itself to hinder your abilities. However, doing so will make certain parts of it visible even in the darkness. Be patient and vigilant; a true Devil Hunter can determine when and where to strike.

 _9/9_

 **New!** Forneus

-Low-level demons that serve Tangaroa. Though similar to manta rays of the Human World, these demons hunt in packs, aiding their master in wearing down prey until they can no longer defend themselves.

-These demons are equally at home in water or in air, swimming with ease through either. When fighting them, bring them down to the ground or lead them into an enclosed space to remove their advantage.

-The thorn-like formations on the underside are actually talons for gripping prey. A favored tactic is for one to grab their quarry while other Fornei swarm in to tear them apart; wiggle the Left Analog Stick to break free before that happens!

-As pack hunters, they grow more dangerous when joined by more of their kind. Try to split them up or find a way to use their numbers against them.

-Their undersides are incredibly deadly, with a number of claws and teeth. However, their top sides are practically defenseless. If you want to prove yourself a true Devil Hunter, take the fight to them and attack from above.

 _5/5_

* * *

Author's Note: Huh. I think this is the first chapter I've ever done with no scene breaks in the main body. It feels so...weird.

...Er, more importantly, what did you think of the boss fight? I actually came up with the concept for this one before the Karkinos fight. Like that time, I was trying to think of something that would be interesting to fight in a Devil May Cry game, and I feel like aquatic demons have a lot of potential to them.

Thanks for reading, and we'll see you next chapter! Before then, though, here's a little extra for you!

* * *

Omake: Dance Devil Revolution

The other two fired near the spot where her round had hit as she reloaded; several bullets peppered the open palm, blood leaking from it as the lights around them flickered.

"What the hell?" Leon called out. "Is this a battle to the death or a rave?"

"It can't be both?" Dante challenged as he fired shots rapidly.

Leon stopped firing, running the question through his mind again. He shrugged; it was worth a try. "Oon tiss, oon tiss, oon tiss, oon tiss, oon tiss..."

The lights around them began to flash in time to his beat, and then switched from white to red, to blue, and then back to white before restarting the pattern. Wow...now that the setting was right, it was actually kind of catchy...

He shook his head, stopping the beat he had been repeating. He turned towards his companions, who were dancing to the beat he had since broken. The lights returned to their normal colour, and they looked at him, disappointed. "Aww, we were having fun..." Dante pouted.

"Maybe we should get back to the work before we start playing," admonished the rookie cop.

 **"I was enjoying that too!"** the voice echoed around them.

"You're not helping!"


	25. 24: Awesome Powers

"Hmm…that would make sense."

Nero and Kyrie had been explaining about the creature that they had encountered several times while on the way to Annette's office. She gave her analysis in response to Nero's suggestion that the monster had been infected with the G-Virus somehow.

"Self-adaptation, cellular regeneration, and the loss of most of the higher brain functions of the host…yes, it most likely has been given the virus in some way. That will be problematic; we've never had two G-vectors at the same time before."

"Are you worried that they'll work together?" Kyrie asked.

"No; I'm worried that destroying this entire lab and dropping it on them might not work. It's easy enough to corner one specimen, but two…" They arrived at the door to her lab, and as they did, the lights flickered on to full power around them. "What the…how was the power restored? The only way to do it is by replacing the main fuse, and that's nowhere near here."

"It's the others," the woman in white said, smiling. "They've made it here too."

The scientist didn't seem to be quite as relieved as the other two were, but she opened up the lab door regardless and ushered them inside. "It'll take me a few minutes to bring up the program files for the G-Vaccine; you two gather up as many important-looking files and papers as you can. But don't touch _anything_ else, got it?"

Nero drew his revolver, stepping past her and firing. The zombie that had been reaching for them fell, its body (clothed in a decaying old lab coat) collapsing to the metal floor. "Does that count?"

"Oh. Er…right." She drew her pistol as well. "I may have overlooked a step."

It took them a minute to finish off the gathered zombies; fortunately, none of them had mutated or undergone the transformation to become Crimson Heads. After that, Annette went to a computer and switched it on while the other two scanned the office. It was a fairly sterile, bland set of desks and computers. Apart from all the corpses, of course.

 _Hey, Crabby. You in there?_ Nero thought as he searched.

 _Naturally. What is it? And why didn't you use me to carve up those undead humans?_

 _It would've been a waste of your time on such weak enemies. And that's not the point anyways. That Hell Gate…is that how you got here?_

 _Yes. …Ah, so THAT'S what you're saving me for? Fair enough._

 _Maybe. I was actually wondering who let you through._

 _Well, isn't it obvious? A human did. How he managed to get the gate open is beyond me…_

Nero frowned. A human in this place knew how to open a Hell Gate? How was that possible? _And just what did this human look like?_

 _Some scientist, and one with a power complex, no doubt. Who else would wear sunglasses indoors?_

He sighed, shaking his head. _Son of a…I shoulda known he wouldn't die that easy. We'd better tear down that gate the instant Lady's cure is finished._

 _If we're quick about it, we might even be able to keep that snobby jellyfish from barging into this world._

…' _Snobby jellyfish'?_

 _Mmm. Thinks it's so much better than everyone just because it's older and lives a little deeper in the Abyss…well, let me tell you something! At least_ _ **I**_ _can actually move on land without looking like a drunk octopus, or hold things without risking a poke in the eye! And ANOTHER thing-_

 _Hey, hey! You're getting a little off-topic here. The only thing we should be worrying about after getting those cures is wrecking that damn Gate; I don't give a crap about the squabbles you have with other demons._

… _Well, you SHOULD,_ she responded huffily.

"Mrs. Birkin?" Kyrie called to her. "I found a keycard and something marked 'P. Room Key' on this desk; will we need them?"

"Definitely," she called back, not looking up from the computer screen.

Kyrie motioned Nero over to her, showing him a note attached to the card by paper clip. He looked it over as she unclipped the card.

 _Dear Fortunates,_

 _I've left the base of the t-Virus cure ("Daylight") at the X marked on the map. Sorry it's inconvenient this way, but there's no other choice; I have a few things to take care of, so I can't drop it off directly._

 _Remember, after the base, there are two more reagents; T-Blood and V-Poison. It matters not which order they are gathered in, but do not dawdle. The clock is ticking, and the final hour approaches. Hurry; there is more at stake here than you understand._

 _\- M_

He flipped the paper over; on the back was a map of the lab complex, and sure enough, there was an "X" to be found on a section that was some distance from their current location. "Yo, Annette. How long will it take to get what you need?"

"About fifteen minutes, why?"

"We'll be right back; just gonna pick up the Daylight starter stuff." He grabbed the other object; the one marked "P. Room".

She stopped typing, turning to stare at him. "You're leaving the room? We shouldn't split up too much at this point."

"We have to; you know about the G-Virus, so you need to keep working at your cure while we make progress on ours. We don't have time," he said, cutting off her protest. "Lock the door while we're gone. We'll knock four times when we're back."

Annette looked between them before sighing and throwing her hands up. "Fine, I suppose you can unlock a few doors while you're out. Take the card with you, and try not to lead anything here after you leave."

"Alright, then. You hold onto this," he said, handing her the radio he'd taken from Lady. "Since the other team's down here, you can call them if you need help while we're gone. We'll try to be back soon."

They left the room, retracing their steps to the security office as dictated by the map. "Do you think she'll be okay?" Kyrie asked Nero as they traveled.

"She'll be fine. But we better grab that thing and get back before something else goes wrong; we've had enough of that already." They took the elevator up, finding themselves in an industrial space. Both of them could hear molten metal bubbling far below. "If a molten iron demon pops up, we might have to make a detour back to the lab just to say 'told you so'." They descended on a small cargo lift before making their way across a catwalk. According to the map, they needed to get to a room that was just above them, but the path was high above them, with boxes taller than them stacked next to it. The question was how to get up to them…

Nero boosted Kyrie up so she could grab the top of the upper box. She was able to clamber on top of it, and Nero jumped up to join her a second later. "Well, here we are."

…Oh. That was how.

They used the key on the door in front of them (helpfully labeled "Power Room") and went inside. There was a giant column in front of them, with a large metal catwalk leading to and around it. The two went to the far side of the catwalk, finding a small vial sitting on the metal. Nero took it, and with a flash his arms took the form of the Devil Bringer. _Dammit, another demon?! Well, this might come in handy, actually…_ With another flash, the vial was absorbed into his right hand.

" _Die…"_ a familiar voice hissed from above them. There was a flapping sound, and a giant creature descended towards them. They both recognized it as the G-creature that they had encountered several times, but it had changed since last time. Two wings had sprouted from its back and were flapping to keep it aloft; the wings were shaped like misshapen claws with scaly skin stretched between them. Its four legs were now rearranged in an X-shaped pattern and ending in sharp points, and the mask on its chest had sunk so far into the skin that only the mouth filter could be seen. Aside from the wings, the most striking feature was that it had grown another head; the long neck under it was sprouting from between the muscled-up shoulders. The new head had the outline of a star and a diamond-shaped toothy mouth, and its eyes were glowing a bright orange colour.

Nero felt a pulse of demonic energy coming from the monster, and his eyes narrowed. _I think somebody was snacking on a demon while we weren't looking._

The monster landed past them, and they could see a pair of bloodshot eyes sprouting from its back, just above a large, toothy mouth. "Nero, we're running out of time!" Kyrie yelled. "We can make it to the exit if we hurry!"

"No." He glared at the monster, Karkinos appearing in his hands. "This ends here and now. If we let this thing go, it might get away and infect someone else. I don't want another one of these things left behind when we're gone!"

Kyrie gave him a worried look, though she drew her crossbow regardless. "…Please hurry."

"Roger that." He didn't bother to wait for the demon to turn and face them; he ran at the creature's back, slicing downward with the scythes.

The demon whirled around, swiping at him with both its left arm and left wing. Rather than slicing the creature's back as intended, the Devil Arm cut through the beast's wing instead. It roared, facing Nero as it punched its flytrap hands forward. He batted aside the snapping appendages several times before appearing at the creature's flank in a blur of scarlet, scythes simultaneously slashing sideways. The creature stumbled backwards, leaving its front wide open; moments later, three crossbow bolts flew into its neck.

"Teriyah!" Nero's kiai rang out as the Devil Arm vanished from his hands and he brought both into the creature's stomach in a powerful double uppercut. "You like your new tricks, huh? Well, how about THESE?!" Ghostly red arms appeared over Nero's Devil Bringers, and he began pummeling the monster with haymakers; one after another. Over and over he hit the mutant, until finally he stepped back slightly and brought both arms overhead. "Time to die!" He slammed his fists downward, and the ethereal red arms followed, impacting his foe with crushing force. "Well? Had enough?"

The monster staggered to its feet, hissing at him before leaping right over the young Holy Knight. It began to scuttle towards Kyrie.

"Where do you think you're goin'?" The glow of his Devil Bringer arms shifted from red to blue, and he stomped after the beast. However, the mouth on its back made a brief chewing motion before spitting a fountain of blood at him. He leapt up to avoid it, looking at Kyrie in worry. She showed no fear as the enemy advanced on her, scoring another series of direct hits in its elongated neck. It bellowed at her before its wings flapped, taking to the air once more. The G-monster flew at the Order Songstress with surprising speed, its misshapen mouth hissing fiercely.

Time seemed to slow down for Nero. His body felt like it was wading through molasses as he ran towards Kyrie. She threw herself under the attacking demon, but one of its sharp feet caught her left shoulder, cutting through the fabric before the creature had swooped past her.

His heartbeat thudded in his ears. _Kyrie…Kyrie!_ The monster would have been manageable were he fighting on his own, but with both of them fighting, he couldn't be everywhere at once. _If only I was stronger…if only I was faster!_ The mutant spun around in mid-air, and locked its gaze on Kyrie once more. _No; I won't let you!_ Something was bubbling up inside as the heartbeat in his ears grew louder and louder; if he wanted to keep her from harm, he needed more than the Devil Bringer, more than the Devil Trigger.

He needed…

The beast hissed, flapping its wings angrily.

More…

The wings curled up, and it dove at her.

 _Power._

 _(such an insatiable one. very well)_

Out of the corner of Kyrie's eye, she saw a burst of dark blue color before suddenly Nero was standing above her, facing the demon as he held it back with one hand. She gasped as she looked at him. It wasn't at all like his usual Devil Trigger; there was no spirit hovering over him while he himself was largely unchanged. His coat had taken a scaly look, and there were horns erupting from his shoulders and head. A jagged, sheath-like protrusion was attached to his left arm (with what looked like the handle of Yamato jutting from it), and his right was glowing pale blue. _He looks almost like…that spirit that appears when he normally Triggers. Could this be a more complete version?_

Nero shoved the G-creature, making it hurtle backwards through the air. He hunched over, and in a blur, it almost looked like his hand had went to the sword before retracting. Several blue lines appeared across the monster's skin, cutting into it before the mutant smashed into the wall.

"Nero…" she breathed. It was one thing to see how strong he was usually, but…had he been holding back this entire time?

Nero turned to her, casting a dispassionate look down at her. He bared several long, sharp teeth, and she scuffled backwards on instinct. Something about the look in those eyes just felt wrong…

There was a flash of blue light, and Nero had returned to normal, dropping to his knees and gasping for breath. "What was…" he managed, looking at her with the look of someone utterly lost. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, feeling relief spread through her. "I could ask you the same."

He got back to his feet, taking her hand and pulling her up as well. "I don't know what that was, but let's figure it out later." He turned around to face the mutant once more, his newest weapon appearing in his left hand in a brief flash of light. "Time to put him down."

The monster writhed in the air, swiping its arms in anger and pain. It roared miserably, its head swinging back and forth even as its voice hissed from the gas mask. _"D-Death…c…ca…cannot…!"_

Nero raised the modified Spark Shot with his left hand, his face showing no emotion as demonic power coursed into the weapon. "Die."

 _CRACK!_

A massive arc of electricity burst from the prongs of the experimental weapon, with a sound like thunder echoing around them. The lightning crackled around the monster, racing through and across it. It spasmed violently, and its wings locked into a stretched position. Without its means of lift, the mutant plummeted, falling down, down, down…

Far below, they saw it impact a pool of molten steel. It shrieked, struggling desperately to swim to the edges, but the thickness of the liquid prevented it from escaping; it slowly sank deeper into the boiling fluid, still scrambling for freedom even as the mucus on its skin evaporated and fire spread across its body.

"Nero," Kyrie said, looking miserably at the trapped creature. "Let's go. We don't need to see-"

"We have to." Nero placed a hand on the railing and stared down at the creature that had once been a man, trying to squash the feeling of pity he felt. "We have to make sure it's dead this time."

Even as the wings melted away, new ones began sprouting from its back, only managing to form halfway before they too were roasted by the heat. The monster's forearms became wider and wider, trying to increase its ability to paddle through the material trapping it, despite its hinged hands becoming charred and crumbling. Its neck stretched up as its body sank into the steel, roaring out one final time before it submerged completely into the steel.

He sighed, reabsorbing the lightning-thrower into the Devil Bringer. "Rest in peace." He left the railing, exiting the room with Kyrie close behind.

* * *

The others, meanwhile, were continuing through the corridors, searching for any sign of their comrades or locations that might hold suitable ingredients for Daylight. Leon had tossed aside his torso combat armor, as the ceramic plating had been severely cracked by Tangaroa's crushing tendrils ("A damn shame; I actually kind of liked that stuff" he muttered as he did). Dante was their point man; a.k.a. the one they sent in first to make sure whatever was beyond a door wouldn't kill them instantly.

Claire, for her part, was watching their red-coated ally carefully.

"Dante, I need to ask you something."

He turned around, looking at Claire. "Yeah?"

"What was that that you did back there?"

He shrugged, but the casual stance he took was nowhere to be found in his eyes. "It's a kind of magic."

"Is that what you meant by 'half-demon'?" Leon cut in.

The Devil Hunter gave him an approving look. "Hey, you remembered! Yep; what I did is called a Devil Trigger; basically using that half to kick more ass." He looked between the two. "…So, have I completely lost your trust yet? Gonna try hitting me with holy water, or shooting me with a silver bullet while my back's turned?"

"What? No!" Leon said, indignant.

"Oh, good, because neither of those will work. Might not be a bad idea to have some holy water handy anyway, though; it does work on most full-blooded demons. How about you, Claire?"

"Why would I do that now?" she asked. "You've been helping us so far, and the only thing that you've taken in trade is our patience. Besides, we're both trying to do the same thing, aren't we? Saving someone that's in trouble, I mean."

"…Yeah, I guess so." His smirk became a genuine, grateful smile for a brief moment. "Thanks."

"Of course, once we're done with that, I might reconsider."

"Aww, c'mon. You know you love me."

"You wish." _And to think this goofball was actually worried that we were afraid of him!_ she thought in amazement. _Still..._ "Is there anything else we should know about you?"

"I love pizza and know how to pilot an airplane. Not to mention I like long walks on the beach and talking about my feelings."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, ha ha…"

* * *

CHAPTER END

And another one finished! I hope you're enjoying the chapters so far; I'm having a lot of fun writing them. I'll update the section of my profile with Devil Arms right away, just need to fine tune a thing or two first.

Thanks for reading, and see you tomorrow!


	26. 25: This Is My Nest

Kyrie opened the door to Annette's lab to find Mrs. Birkin herself waiting for them. "You're just in time; I've printed off all the information we'll need to synthesize DEVIL."

They both stared at her in surprise. "…Run that by us one more time?" Nero said disbelievingly.

"It's the codename for the G-Virus antigen. We'll need to get the main culture cartridge from another lab beyond here, so we need to get moving right now." She strode past them, and with a brief look between them, they followed.

"So…I gotta ask, why call it 'Devil'?" Nero asked the scientist.

"My husband was the one who gave the G-Virus its name; he was convinced that once it was finished, it would allow humans to transcend their own mortal limitations and become like God."

"A 'God Virus'? He didn't see the problem with that?"

"Therefore," she continued, as if she hadn't heard him, "the logical counter would be the Devil."

"You guys may be smart, but your mythology knowhow could use some serious work…"

After utilizing their keycard several times on doors along their path, they'd reached a place that Annette said was the Synthesis Room. They went inside, hearing the telltale moans of zombies an instant later.

"They're naked. Why are they naked?"

Mrs. Birkin didn't bother to direct her glare at him, since she was busy using it to aim at the undead (and unclothed) beings. "They've probably been here for long enough that their clothes have torn away," she said as she began taking them down alongside her companions. "What does it matter?"

"Just curious. Also, can't you just turn the machines on right now?"

"The vaccine is extremely sensitive to sudden movements or changes in temperature. Bullets wouldn't really play nice with it." Once the last zombie had fallen, the scientist picked up a small case from an operating gurney, withdrawing a small capsule and inserting it into a large inactive machine. "This will take a minute or so; see if there's anything around here we can use." She went to a panel on the wall and pressed a few buttons; the machine whirred to life.

"Nero," Kyrie whispered to him as they sifted through several scattered documents, "about what happened back there…"

"I don't know," he whispered back. "It almost felt like…you remember back during that attack in Fortuna? The first time my arm changed?"

"The one that put your arm in that sling?" She frowned. "You don't think that arm is…you know…"

He glanced at his arm out of reflex. It had returned to normal after the battle against the G-mutant, but that didn't make his unease any less intense. "When I Devil Triggered, it felt like I was in a dream, far away from my body. Maybe my human and demon sides are out of whack. I'll have to squeeze a few answers outta that Mar guy once we're done here; for now, maybe I better hold off on using that power for a while."

"I don't think he knows," she responded, setting aside a blank sheet of paper. "You saw how he reacted after Lady had been bitten."

Something caught his eye as he moved several sheets aside. He snatched it up, and found what was unmistakably a diagram of the Hell Gate. _Urgent Memo: Regarding Monolith_ , the title read. His eyes scanned further down the page.

 _By order of Sir Spencer, all Umbrella researchers currently working on the G-Virus are hereby reassigned. You are to focus all efforts on study of the strange monolith and capture of the unnatural beings that have been found in proximity to the object. Any personnel who are killed during their duties will receive compensation that shall be distributed to their next-of-kin upon the first of the following month._

 _You are to keep all knowledge and study of the object's recent activity secret from the other branches of the company; anyone found in violation of this rule will be used in live testing against captured creatures._

 _Noncompliance with any of these directives shall result in termination of the employee's contract._

 _Have a nice day._

 _-Office of Oswell E. Spencer_

"Damn…" he muttered, stuffing the note in his pocket.

"What, what is it?" Annette called over in his direction.

"Your bosses suck."

"I know."

* * *

The other three had just flipped a switch next to a shutter, which promptly rose up. On the other side were what looked like…writhing…bundles of ivy with a vaguely humanoid outline and blooming flowers for faces. One reared back, and they had to dodge a stream of foul-smelling liquid that began to sizzle upon contact with the floor.

"KILL IT WITH FIRE!" Leon yelled, firing his shotgun at the monsters.

Claire was already in motion, shoving a flame grenade into her launcher.

"You _really_ gotta work on the nerves," Dante muttered as he drew his own shotgun.

 _KSHEW!_

The mutated creatures were suddenly coated with fire. They hissed and gurgled, making to reach tendrils out to the humans before collapsing and withering as they watched.

"See? Claire's got it down."

"…Thanks, Claire," Leon muttered.

"No problem. I didn't know you were scared of plants." She grinned as his face began to redden. "It's actually kind of cute."

"I'm not scared of plants!" he insisted. "I just…don't like moving ones, is all."

"Well, don't you worry," she said, patting his shoulder. "I'll take out any other plant monsters that get in our way."

"My hero…"

Behind the shutter was a door that lead to a ladder…which was next to a wall covered in vines, open wounds, and what looked like a layer of saliva. Despite her promise, Claire didn't really expect to be able to blow up an entire wall, even with all her grenades. Instead, they descended as quickly as possible, exploring the next floor. The first few doors were locked, but one marked "Live Specimens" was not. She winced in expectation. "This might get ugly; everybody ready?" They nodded, and all three swept into the room, guns drawn.

It was fortunate they had done so. An angry, half-rotted ape, highly similar to the one Claire and Leon had already fought in the R.P.D. parking garage. This particular one's hair (what little there was left) was bright red. "Hey look. It's Dante's long-lost uncle."

The Devil Hunter, contrary to Leon's expectation, just shrugged. "Oh, please; Lady does better with the same material." He pulled the anti-tank rifle out of his coat. "Sorry, but when it comes to red coats, no one tops mine."

It roared, beating its chest before leaping at him.

 _BOOM!_

He stepped to the side as the body flew past him with a massive hole in its chest, impacting the wall and sliding down. Both Claire and Leon were giving him a look like he'd said some horrible curse word. "What?"

"…You know what, I'm not even gonna start." Leon shook his head, looking around the room. "Hmm…not seeing any of the fast red zombies. You think-" He froze, staring at a row of large, rectangular glass cages.

They were covered in a thin layer of frost, distorting the images of the creatures inside somewhat. Even so, the form of one was unmistakable as the same type of lizard-like demons they'd fought before; though this one was missing its shield and helmet. He tapped the glass surrounding it nervously, but the demon seemed to be frozen solid.

Claire walked up to the same cage as well, looking at a computer terminal next to it. "'Subject 3. Hunter-type specimen captured within 20 meters of monolith on September 18th, 1998. Combat Rating: B. Three personnel lost in capture.'" She looked around the room; there were several containment cells of different sizes, but most were empty. Some of the empty ones had shattered glass and gaping holes in the cell doors; including an ape-sized hole in a cell door labeled " **MA-54 Hanuman** "… "…Let's get out of here before something decides to-"

A vent panel crashed mere feet from her, and she jumped back, drawing her pistol. A few seconds later, a creature dropped down to the floor.

"It's him…" Leon said, raising his own gun.

Birkin had found them again. It hadn't changed physically since their last encounter, but something about the mutant was different this time; it almost seemed like it had sought them out deliberately.

Dante was the first one to notice; there was a faint energy pulse coming from the mutant, and its eyes had become pitch-black. "Spiders just weren't hittin' the spot, huh? You added demons to the menu too?"

Claire was furious. "Just die, Birkin! We've got more important things to deal with than you!"

Birkin's skin shuddered, and it began to change once more. Its body hunched forward slightly as its skull began to lengthen, a jagged bone spike sprouting from its lower back. Its pointed teeth grew longer, and the human face on the chest began to descend, resting at the lower left side of the torso. The feet grew larger, webbing forming between the clawed toes; the spike was pushed out of Birkin's back by a tail that it was attached to. The elbow joints of the smaller arms swelled up, and the tail stopped lengthening; the spike grew two needles out of its sides. Birkin roared and leapt up, slashing downward with both large arms.

The group scattered to avoid the attack, and Leon's eyes began roving the room for something to help them. _We don't have time to take him down with half our bullets! Come on, there has to be something…anything we can use!_ His eyes fell on a large glass tube that seemed to be filled with a light-colored liquid; the section of the wall it was attached to had a built-up layer of frost surrounding the tube… _It must the stuff they used to-_

"Leon!" Dante yelled at him as he and Claire put several bullets into the creature. "Rise and shine, kid; he's not gonna give us a time-out!"

 _I don't know if it'll work, but it's worth a try!_ "We need to lure him over by the tube on the wall! It's got liquid that could freeze him in place!"

Dante frowned. He wanted to make the beast dead, so they could have it done with; still, they needed to make up for lost time. "Okay. One distraction, comin' right up!" He pulled his new Devil Arm from out of his coat. "Let's whip this guy into shape!" He attacked the malformed monster, striking into it with the whip while leaning out of the way of its slashes. "That's right; get pissed!" He jumped backwards out of the creature's range. "C'mon, big boy; you wanna piece of me, you gotta come get it!"

The monster snarled, but rather than advancing, it leapt backwards onto the far wall. The Devil Hunter saw its smaller arms rotate backwards, the claws stabbing into the wall and holding it in place. As it hung up there, glaring at them, its large arms curled inward, the claws beginning to rattle.

"Claws incoming!" Claire called out. They leapt out of the way as several claws impaled the place where they'd been standing moments before. She chambered a flame grenade, noticing as she did that she only had four more. "Knock him down!"

 _KSHEW!_

The flame grenade hit dead-on, and definitely seemed to get Birkin's attention. It leapt from the wall at her, and she had to roll to the side to avoid it; the tail, however, was in motion even as she moved. She had just stopped rolling when she saw the spiked tailfin coming straight at her eyes…

There was a loud crack, and Dante was in front of her, whip in hand as the tail recoiled. "You mighta got its attention a little too well, huh? Get to those pipes; I'll send it your way."

She nodded, running towards them as Leon covered for her with his shotgun. Both of them moved right in front of the pipes, waiting.

Dante grinned at the beast between him and the others. "Okay, we can do this the hard way." He whipped forward twice, and then crouched slightly before flinging himself forwards while punching with Tangaroa. He launched off his feet, spinning into his enemy like a drill as high-pressure water swirled around him, cutting into the creature's flesh and eyes. The force of his attack pushed Birkin backwards several feet; not far from the tubes. Dante landed on his feet, measuring the distance between their opponent and the target in his mind. _Just a little closer…_

The creature writhed and hissed in blind fury, swiping its arms and tail in all directions. To their horror, the tail slammed against the tube, cracking the glass; the fluid within began to leak slowly outwards. The monster felt the cold at the same time they did, and made to move away from the intense chill.

"Oh, no you don't!" Dante yelled. He swiped the whip upwards, and a wave of water rose straight out of the floor, slamming into Birkin and washing him backwards near the cracked glass. "Time to put you on ice!" All three poured bullet after bullet into the glass tube around the creature; the tube shattered, cooling liquid coating the already-wet Birkin. They retreated as the monster writhed, struggling to reach them. Every step that it took grew exponentially slower and slower, until finally the monster was as still as a statue, its arms splayed out threateningly.

"That won't hold him forever," remarked Leon. "Let's get back to searching the rooms for those ingredients; every second counts."

"Yeah. Just to be sure, though…" Dante swapped out the whip for the tri-chucks, slamming them into the ground. Several jagged crystals of ice formed over the already-frozen mutated being. "Okay, let's move before he grows a built-in heater or something."

* * *

After taking the main component of the G-Vaccine, Nero and the others left the room, unlocking another marked "Insect Specimens". Kyrie and he shared an understanding look; this was probably the best place they could hope to find "V-Poison". "This might get kinda ugly; Annette, we'll handle this place. You keep making that antidote and we'll regroup with you later."

She frowned at him, but didn't protest. "I'll be at a lab in the south corridor that has a machine to continue the procedure; I'll wait for you there." Annette walked down the hallway, sparing a brief backward glance before turning the corner.

Nero took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. "This'll be kinda new for me; will you be okay?"

"Yes. Lady's counting on us."

He smiled proudly. "Yeah. Well, whenever you're ready." They both entered the room.

Chaos greeted their eyes as incredibly loud buzzing assaulted their ears. Several rectangular glass cages, like the ones they'd seen in the factory, surrounded the edges of the circular room. Most were full of what looked like long-dead bugs, and others were empty altogether. However, in the very center of the room was a large hive dangling from the ceiling, with insects the size of dinner plates buzzing around it.

"Wasps," Kyrie muttered as she observed them. "It's a wasp nest."

"How can you tell?" Nero whispered back to her under cover of all the buzzing.

"The shape of the nest. Also, the bodies are longer and have more of a black colour to them."

"Huh. I guess that means we don't get any honey."

"Afraid not. How should we get the venom from them?"

That very question had puzzled Nero ever since the man in the cloak had rattled off the list of things they needed to put together. Should he just grab one of the little ones and drag it back to where the vaccine machine was? Or did they need to make it sting a giant sponge or something? _It's too bad we don't have Dante here to freeze the little buggers._

"Nero, look." She pointed to a small machine on the far side of the room. Above it was the helpful label " **Venom Collection** ". "It won't take the whole wasp, or it would probably just say 'wasp collection'."

"Which means I'll have to yank the stinger right out of 'em." He shrugged. "Well, better than trying to squeeze it right outta-" The buzzing grew more intense, and they saw several of the mutant wasps gunning straight for them. "Cover the machine! I'll do the grabbing!" The Devil Bringers appeared over his arms as he drew Red Queen, batting off several of the angry wasps.

 _Sir Nero, I believe my shield might help in this situation,_ Ascalon suggested in his mind.

 _It might block from the front, but if they got in behind it I couldn't do a thing to stop them. Sorry, but I gotta focus right now!_

 _My apologies. Still, I shall be ready if you need me._

 _Thanks._ At that moment, he saw an opportunity; twisting the handle of his blade, he spun in a circle as flames danced across his sword, cutting through several wasps surrounding him save for one. He hurriedly replaced the sword on his back and reached the ghostly arm of his Devil Bringer out, grabbing that one wasp and pinning it in the ethereal fist. _Here goes nothing!_ He reached under the struggling wasp, ripping the stinger and several organs out. He threw the insect aside, where its movements rapidly began to slow as he ran to Kyrie. Nero tore away all the other organs save one that felt as if there were fluid swirling around inside. "Here's one!" he said, handing it to her and running back to the hive immediately.

She was not a squeamish person in general, having long become accustomed to the sort of damage that accompanied battles against demons. Even so, she felt nauseous holding the still-warm object as she brought it over to the machine, placing it inside and tapping a button on the side. The stinger disappeared from view as the machine sealed itself, and there was a loud whirring noise for several seconds before the machine beeped. " _Toxin extraction complete,_ " A voice announced from somewhere in the room." _Venom production at 33% optimal level._ "

"Thirty-three percent?!" Nero yelled as he fought. "You gotta be kidding! These things could eat a cat, and one isn't-" He slashed at several more wasps before grabbing another and removing its stinger as well. He handed it off to Kyrie, getting back near the hive before they could turn their attention on her.

She put the second one in the machine, and it rumbled to life. " _Toxin extraction complete. Venom production at 50% optimal level._ "

"HEY! Last time you gave us a third! What gives?!"

Kyrie was doing the math in her head. _Assuming they all give the same amount, and the first one reached the level of 33%, and the second reached half…_ She winced. _Of course…it probably had some left over in the machine…that would mean…_ "Nero, we need three more!"

" _Three?_ Oh, for the love of-" He fended off the swarm of insects; they seemed to be growing in number. "Why didn't someone leave us a can of bug spray like back in the mansion?!" He managed to grab another wasp, removing its stinger and handing it off to Kyrie.

" _Toxin extraction complete. Venom production at 66% optimal level._ "

 _C'mon…c'mon…_ Nero thought as he swatted left and right with his sword. _Two more…_ He reached out both Devil Bringers to attempt grabbing two wasps at once. The right one obeyed instantly, launching the ghostly arm and capturing one of the angry menaces. The left one, however, did nothing. _What? Hey, don't do this to me now!_ Setting aside his attempt to speed things along, he ripped the sting from the wasp abdomen and carried it to the Order Songstress.

Without fail, the machine announced its progress. " _Toxin extraction complete. Venom production at 83% optimal level._ "

"Last one!" The Holy Knight hurriedly grabbed one final wasp, squishing its upper body before the electric weapon appeared in his left hand. It spat out a bolt of electricity, striking the nest and cutting off most of the buzzing instantly. "That should stall 'em." He took the abdomen over to the machine, removing the stinger and stuffing it inside himself. After activating it, it took only a few moments before its status update came.

" _Toxin extraction complete. Venom production complete. Sample ready for collection._ " A hatch opened on the side of the machine, and a vial of yellow liquid was extended outward. Nero grabbed it, absorbing it into his Devil Bringer as his other hand took Kyrie's and lead them from the room. The buzzing was beginning to pick up again, and they only had seconds before the wasps returned, and in greater numbers. They threw the door open and hurried through, slamming it closed behind them.

Kyrie was panting, and Nero shook his head in disbelief. "That was nuts…"

"I wonder…why…they didn't…attack me?" Kyrie managed while trying to regain her breath.

"I dunno. But we got it!" A thrill of relief ran through him. "Only one more thing to collect, and we'll have Lady cured up in no time!"

Even as winded as she was, Kyrie couldn't help but smile. "That's…a relief…"

* * *

CHAPTER END

Dammit, I just missed it. I almost had this one ready to post when I was proofreading and I noticed a glaring plothole in the original draft, so I went back over it twice to make sure I hadn't made any others. Ugh.

Well, even with all that I might have missed something else along the way, so apologies for that. If you spot anything that's a little off, please let me know and I'll fix it up immediately. The next chapters I'm going to be writing in one big block, so I don't know if they'll be out daily; should things go as planned, though, it'll all be out before November. You're all awesome, and thanks for reading!


	27. 26: Screaming Target

After swiping a few empty syringes (in case they needed to collect ingredients the hard way), they left the room with the frozen Birkin, resuming their search for Daylight components or their allies. If the other two felt anything like Leon, the pressure to get everything in time was really starting to build. "These ingredients sure are tough to find," Leon commented. "You think they keep 'em in another secret base?"

"I don't think this town can hold another one," Claire said as she checked her ammo. "Still, how hard can it be to find a zombie covered in blood?"

The group stopped as a vent ahead of them suddenly began rattling violently. The cover fell off, and a spider-hybrid like the ones from the elevator climbed out. "Heads up!" Dante called out.

Leon did indeed raise his head up. His shotgun soon followed, blasting the abomination right off the ceiling and onto the floor below. They walked by its dying body as they continued searching the rooms.

A few minutes later, Dante raised a hand. "Hold up."

"What is it?" Leon followed the other man's pointing hand, looking at what seemed to be a painting stuck into the middle of a gate. The painting was of what seemed to be a monster with dozens of eyes dying under a tree, with a white cow moving away from it. A man with winged sandals and a winged cap was holding something in one hand, but his other hand seemed to be oddly empty, as if it was missing something. "Mmm…I see what you mean," Leon said, nodding. "Talk about tacky…"

Claire suppressed a snort of laughter, reading the plaque under the painting over Dante's shoulder. _"If you wish for Juno's gift, you must relinquish Mercury's power." What could that mean?_ "Any clues?"

Dante frowned, tapping a finger to his chin. "Hmm…first that light at the mansion, and now this…why are the ones from there popping up…?"

She looked back and forth between him and the painting. "…Not that we shouldn't be cautious, but people are depending on us."

Dante's features took on a slightly steely edge. "Right. Stand back." He pulled an object from his coat and held it up to the painting. Claire only barely registered that it looked like a winged staff with snakes coiled around it before she and Leon flinched back as it shone like a portable sun.

"Turn off the high beams!" shouted Leon, his eyes squinted so hard he was displaying a distinct resemblance to a mole. The two humans barely registered the light moving toward the painting, a rippling motion, and then suddenly, the light had immediately gone out. "Sheesh, I'm gonna see the afterimage of that for hours. What was that?"

To his irritation, Dante didn't answer him. What did happen, however, was that he noticed the figure in the painting was now holding the winged staff. As he watched, the painted man's other hand opened up, and a closed eye tumbled right out of it…out of the painting entirely, in fact; it landed on the floor right under the painting. Dante stooped to pick it up; once he had, the eye opened, and both the painting and gate dissolved away as if made of smoke. Beyond where they had been was a large steel door with a simple handle.

The Devil Hunter examined the eye curiously. It had an X-shaped pupil and a blue iris; where a normal human eyeball would have had the white part, this one was green. The lid around the outside of the eye itself was a bright orange. "Let's see what's behind door number one, shall we?" He tucked the eye away and grabbed the handle of the door, pushing it open and leading the others inside.

They were greeted with a chorus of snarls.

* * *

After catching their breath from the insect room, Kyrie and Nero set out for the place Annette said she would be. She was standing next to a rumbling machine when they entered, briefly drawing her pistol on them before recognizing the two and standing down. "I was worried you wouldn't make it back in time. Did you find what you were looking for?"

Nero gave her a thumbs-up. "That's two outta three ingredients so far; we just need T-Blood, and we've got instant zombie remover!"

She gave him the smallest of smiles. "Excellent news. The machine on the other side of the room should be able to synthesize what you're looking for. Once this step is complete, we'll have the G-antigen prepped and ready for use."

"Are you sure it will work?" Kyrie asked, worried. "If the fighting has interfered with making it…"

The scientist shook her head. "That shouldn't be a problem; you two have been stellar bodyguards." She nodded respectfully towards them. "I thank you for your help; Sherry is…all I have left."

"Don't mention it," the Holy Knight said. "To be honest, we might owe _you_ one after all of-"

 _CRASH!_

All of them spun around, raising their weapons. Nero stared at the new arrival that had just smashed its way through the wall. It looked…vaguely familiar…His eyes scanned over the creature, his eyes focusing on the large, bloodshot eyeballs all over the monster's body. "You." His arms changed into their scaled-up forms.

It was Birkin, but he was much different from when they'd last seen him. He heard a gasp of horror from behind him. "…William…you're still alive…"

The G-creature roared at them, staring from one person to the next. To their surprise, it made a croaking sound as if it were trying to laugh…

"Annette, take the cure and run," Nero ordered. "We'll cover you."

"It's not done yet. And besides, I'm not letting him leave this room!" she spat angrily. "I'll put his body to rest so it can't harm Sherry again!"

" _Sherry…_ " Birkin hissed. Its skin shuddered as it once more began to change. Spines developed along its tail, and the spikes at the end grew and shifted, becoming three triangular bone pieces that clasped together. Black, semi-transparent blood vessels began to sprout all over its skin, glowing red blood visible inside them. A horn sprouted from its head and grew, resembling a cruel dagger as the skull also lengthened, becoming more like an animal's than a human's. Its hands and feet grew larger, several digits combining together until it had three fingers on each large hand and four clawed toes on each foot. Birkin's incisors lengthened immensely, his mouth having to hang open to avoid biting itself. Its skin took on a slightly slimy look, and as it roared up at the ceiling, flames flew from its mouth.

"What the hell?!" Annette yelled.

"That'd be my guess," Nero commented, Ascalon appearing in his hands.

The flames ceased, and the monster turned its gaze back to them, its tail whipping around so that the bone pieces were pointed at them. They opened up like flower petals, and the three could see a human face with blonde hair hidden inside.

"I'll kill you," the scientist snarled.

The bones clasped closed again, and the monster began advancing on them. Its tail was swinging around it and sending various lab equipment flying; while the beast was slower, there was no question that it was very powerful.

 _If I could stun it first, one good Buster might finish it off!_ Nero thought. _But how are we gonna stun it in the first place?_

"Nero, we can't let it damage the machines!" Kyrie warned him. "Lead him away, and we can fight him without risking them!"

"Right!" He sent the right Devil Bringer out, grabbing onto the horn and launching right over the monster. The mutated Birkin stumbled slightly from the pull on its horn, but swiped upwards at the mid-air Nero. The part-demon swordsman turned to block the attack with his shield; the strikes did not harm him, but their force did accelerate his flight. He landed somewhat more roughly than he had intended, but shrugged it off. Nero extended the Devil Bringer once more, grabbing onto the horn as he dug his heels in and pulled backwards. "C'mon, you ugly bastard! Bring the fight over here!"

Birkin snarled at him, swiping at the ghostly arm with its own larger arms, but they passed right through. Its smaller arms clenched their fists, and then to Nero's shock, those arms extended toward him.

"Hey! That's my thing!" he yelled, hopping backwards to put him just out of reach of the arms. He pulled harder, but the mutant would not budge. "Fine, I can be persuasive." He let go of the horn, the ghostly arm retracting as he drew Blue Rose and fired twice at the monster's chest. The bullets struck its strange, toothy ribs directly; it bellowed and began stomping towards him. "Yeah, that got you pissed, didn't' it?"

* * *

The three were surrounded by Crimson Heads in a room that was littered with broken machinery and empty tubes. There had to be between ten or fifteen of them, all staring directly at the new arrivals. "Well!" Dante announced cheerfully. "That's gonna make things easier!"

"Would you stop goofing off?" Claire hissed. "Just grab one and stick a syringe into it; we need to get moving quick before Lady turns into one of these!"

The smile flew off his face as instantly as if she'd slapped him. "…Y-yeah."

"Why aren't they attacking?" Leon wondered.

One of the Crimson Heads gave a loud hiss, and the rest of them backed away from the group. Looking at it, its skin crisscrossed with glowing veins. Two horns were sprouting from the sides of its head, and the hint of intelligence seemed to hide within its bright yellow eyes.

"Oh. That's why. Who calls dibs on Mr. Hell-oween there?"

"Me," Dante announced. "I'll leave the involuntary blood drive to you; once you've got what you need, scram."

"Are you nuts?" Leon shouted. "…Well, more than usual?"

"I don't want you bitten too!" the Devil Hunter snapped back. "Just do what I say!"

"If you want us to get clear quickly, you'll have to finish your fight fast," Claire responded. "We'll fight together, and we'll win together."

He growled. "Fine. Just don't hit me with all those grenades of yours."

"No promises."

He drew the sword from his back, charging the unusual Crimson Head. It jumped backwards to avoid his sword swing, slashing at his side. The Devil Hunter swiveled, blocking the creature's claws.

Leon shrugged, unlimbering his shotgun. "Just remember; we'll need a few bodies left by the time it's all over to drain blood from."

"Got it. No acid, then." She readied her grenade launcher.

As one, they fired at the bloodied zombies around them.

They managed to score some lucky hits straight away. Leon's shotgun blast removed the heads of two enemies and knocked a third opponent down; Claire's explosive round caught four at once, with two of them losing both arms, one losing a head, and the last losing its legs. The two humans reloaded quickly as the undead broke from their reverie and rushed the two. Leon steadied his aim and fired again as Claire reloaded, taking off another head and severing another zombie's torso from its legs, firing once more at the latter as it attempted to crawl towards the two. Claire fired again, and this time the shot blew away the upper torsos of two of the Crimson Heads completely. Five were left now; two were only torsos scrambling towards them, two others had no arms, and the last was getting up from being knocked down. Leon and Claire each fired again, taking out the undead missing legs. The other three, however, seemed to be hanging back. _What're they waiting for?_ Leon wondered to himself. _Candy?_

A shrill scream came from the direction of Dante and the strange Crimson Head. Claire and Leon clutched their heads, covering their ears to shut out the horrible noise. The three remaining Crimson Heads retreated slightly, circling around the humans like vultures. "Tell that jackass he's not rockstar material!" Leon yelled over the noise.

Dante was covering his own ears, so he only just heard the R.P.D. officer. "I'll pass on the memo!" he shouted back. He drew his shotgun and fired in the zombie's direction. It ducked out of the way of the shot, and the loud scream ceased, though it leapt at Dante and slashed with its claws.

When it did, all three Crimson Heads closed in. Leon jabbed at the one that still had its arms with his shotgun, catching it in the chest with the bayonet. He fired point-blank, and the zombie rocked backwards with a massive hole in its chest. He turned to Claire, who had slung her launcher behind her back and pulled out two large syringes. "Leon, help me!" she called to him. He stowed his shotgun in its carrying position, taking one of the syringes from her and delivering a solid kick to one of the monsters.

Claire held the other one at arm's length, maneuvering her other arm past the creature's snapping jaws and jabbing the needle into its throat. It was incredibly difficult trying to extract blood with only one hand, and as she did, she couldn't help but think bitterly that the next time that cloaked man wanted something done, he could do it and she would supervise.

Leon, meanwhile, was keeping the other Crimson Head in place by stepping on its head and jabbing the needle into its thigh. In his case, this left both hands available to draw blood using the syringe. _I don't know how much this cure needs, but you know what they say; better to have and not need! Let's just hope two full syringes will be enough…_

Dante, meanwhile, was getting frustrated. This freakshow was just a zombie; just a bloody, glorified zombie. So why was it so nimble?! "Hold still, you bastard!"

It stared at him, dodging his swipe with seeming ease. " _Bastard…bastard…_ " it rasped.

 _Aaaaaand it can talk, too. Great._ "Just hold still; once we get enough blood, you can lurk here and eat your buddies like you always wanted."

" _Eat…blood…eat…here…_ "

"Hey, you almost done there?" Dante called out to his partners. "I told you; grab the blood and go! Lady needs that cure!"

"We're working on it!" Leon called back, withdrawing his full syringe and blasting off the skull of the armless Crimson Head with his Desert Eagle. "Is that thing talking?"

"So what if it is?"

"Then tell it to give you better jokes."

" _La…dy…_ "

Dante turned to the creature. "…What was that?"

" _Lady…eat…Lady…_ "

The Devil Hunter's heart began to pound in his ears. "Why don't I shut that mouth of yours?" He swung Rebellion to and fro, trying furiously to slice the creature to pieces, but it kept narrowly missing. "Hold still and die!"

" _Lady…die…eat…Lady…_ "

"Shut up!" He swapped the sword out for Gilgamesh, launching into a flurry of punches and kicks that, again, the monster avoided. "I'd expect something this annoying from a demon, but not-" He broke off, trying to concentrate through his anger. Sure enough, the power was there, if hidden. "First Birkin, now you? Who's passing out all the demon blood?"

The creature screeched once more, and the three living people all winced and covered their ears. From behind several shattered glass tubes, they could see more Crimson Heads rising up. The undead beings leapt over the tubes, running for Claire and Leon, who readied their weapons.

"Knock that off!" Dante roared, firing the shotgun again. This time the shot hit, but even though the mutated Crimson Head ceased its screaming, it didn't seem to be harmed nearly as much as the Devil Hunter was expecting. "What's it gonna take to kill you?"

" _Lady…you…kill…Lady._ "

"SHUT UP!" His face was as white as a sheet as he squashed down the anxiety that had been threatening to well up for some time. The image of a blonde woman covered in blood flickered through his mind. "Lady's not dead yet!"

" _Yet…yet…_ "

"Dante!" Claire yelled as she and Leon fended off the influx of angry red zombies. "Would you slow down and think for once?!"

Dante glared hatefully at the mocking zombie, but heard the woman's advice. _Right…right, gotta slow down and…wait, of course!_ "If it wouldn't piss Leon off so much, I'd kiss you for that!"

"W-what?!"

He changed the gauntlets out for the whip, focusing. _Gotta do this just right; I only get one shot!_ "All right…stand still!" he announced, snapping his left hand. The world around him changed, the colours of everything inverting as time slowed to a crawl. At the same time, there was a burst of energy from him as he Devil Triggered; the nine-part whip almost seemed to replace his arm, and his hair flailed around wildly as if it too were a mass of tendrils. He raced at the Crimson Head, attacking it without mercy; even with time slowed down like it was, the creature was still making motions in an attempt to dodge. The power of Quicksilver was too great, however, and the whip strikes found their mark, cutting into the monster's surprisingly tough flesh. **"Die! DIE!"** he roared, hitting the creature over and over again.

Colour flooded back into everything, and time returned to normal. _No! It's not dead yet!_ He kept up his relentless attack as the creature screamed out once more.

The few Crimson Heads that Leon and Claire had not killed suddenly broke off from fighting the two, instead running towards Dante and their leader. "I don't think so!" Leon yelled as he fired his shotgun into their retreating backs.

Swapping the whip out for Rebellion, Dante plunged it into the chest of the horned Crimson Head. "And stay there." He turned to the approaching enemies, Alastor appearing in his hands.

Claire drew her pistol; grenades that close to Dante were a bad idea. She fired several times, hoping that they'd be able to hold off the zombies for at least a little bit…

The Devil Arm cut through one after another, never slowing. Dante was breathing heavily, barely paying attention to anything except the things in front of him that he had to kill.

Leon saw the look on his friend's face. There was no joy or smugness to be found; only cold hate. He held his fire; in the state their companion was in, he might have a difficult time distinguishing from friend or foe. He motioned to Claire, and she lowered her pistol.

The last Crimson Head fell, and Dante's sword stopped moving. He stood there, covered in blood and breathing heavily, for at least a full minute before the sword in his hands disappeared and he grabbed the other one, returning it to its usual spot on his back.

"Dante…are you okay?" Claire asked nervously.

He nodded. "…Yeah."

"We've got the blood; we should meet up with the others and see what they've found."

"Yeah." He looked at her, his whole body still shaking slightly. "We're gonna make it. We're gonna make it on time…right?"

She nodded. "Of course we are. You've got us with you."

He took a long, steadying breath. "Right…well, after you."

The door opened. "Well well…looks like someone's been having fun," said a familiar voice.

* * *

The machine on the other side of the room beeped.

"The vaccine is finished!" Annette said in surprise, reloading her pistol. "Leave him here; we need to get that to Sherry!"

"We can't!" Nero yelled, ducking under a swipe of Birkin's tail. "If he destroys the other machine, we can't make the cure for Lady! We need to get him out of this room!"

"And how do you propose we do that?!"

He hunched behind his shield as the G-monster spat flames at him. "You're the scientist, you figure out something!"

Her eyes roved the room for something useful. How were they supposed to…wait, there! She picked up a beaker of hydrochloric acid. "Get clear!" The other two backed away, and she hurled the beaker straight at the largest eye she could find; the one on the beast's right shoulder. The mutated Birkin roared in pain, its eyes glaring at the scientist. "Come get me, then." She ran over by the door, and the beast followed her.

 _What the…I didn't mean using yourself as live bait!_ Nero held his fire; as much as he hated this plan, he would give it the chance to work. And it seemed to; the creature followed her right out of the door. They followed quickly; making sure it closed behind them before turning their attention back to their enemy.

Annette fired twice at the creature. "I'm running out of room!" she called. The others ran to help her, but suddenly she noticed the creature turn its attention to a hallway close by.

" _Sherry…_ "

 _No! I can't let him get to her!_ She hurriedly put herself in front of the mutant to block off the corridor. "No! Even if it costs me my life, you're not getting-" The rest of her sentence was cut off as the beast's tail whipped around, opening up to reveal her husband's face inside. She flinched, her arms going slightly slack before she tried to take aim again. The momentary lapse in her guard meant it was too late; the tail slammed into her head, smashing it into the side wall of the corridor. She slumped, blood pouring from beneath her hair as the monster began to stride past her.

"Annette!" Kyrie yelled. She fired her crossbow at the monster; the last three bolts hit the still-open tail section directly. The beast Birkin hissed at her, but turned its attention upward towards the vent. It leapt up, crashing right through a vent cover and disappearing from sight. "Annette…hold still, we'll get you fixed up!"

The blonde woman looked up at her. "Forget me…get the cure…to Sherry."

"Just hold on!" She took two of the herbs from her pockets; one red and one green. _The only ones left are the blue ones._ She ground them together, Nero handing her a paper to keep them on. "We're going to get you through this."

"I won't…survive. William is too strong…he's becoming more powerful with every skin he sheds. Get the cure to Sherry…and tell her…tell her…" Tears began to well up in her eyes. "Tell her I love her so much…and that I'm sorry…"

"Tell her yourself," Nero said gently. "Kyrie will get you fixed up."

She applied the mixture to Annette's scalp, keeping pressure on the wound as she tore a strip of fabric from the hem of her dress to tie the poultice on. "You're going to make it, and so is Sherry. Nero, please get the vaccine she made and hurry back; we need to get her to the security office immediately!"

* * *

CHAPTER END

ENEMY FILE

 **New!** Crimson King

\- An accidental demonic hybrid, created when a zombie already undergoing the V-ACT process has had the blood surrounding it become tainted with demon blood. While lacking in intelligence, it possesses a crude mimicry capability and deceptively high agility.

\- It can vocalize orders to Crimson Heads in the vicinity, marshaling them like troops. Disrupting its voice will hinder this ability; when it starts to scream, interrupt it!

Darn; it looks like I won't make it after all.

To Joe: You are absolutely right. While I had intended for Dante's jokes after Lady's bite to be his way of hiding his nervousness and fear that wouldn't hold up forever, I realized that wasn't really conveyed in the text. So I'm rewriting the chapters to make that more noticeable; hopefully it won't be quite as frustrating as a result?

So, in order to improve the quality rather than rushing out something less polished, I'll keep releasing chapters daily rather than all at once. I hate missing goals, but I hate disappointing my readers most of all.

Well, hopefully A chapter at Halloween was a good thing, anyway.


	28. 27: The Daredevil Four

After taking the finished cure from the lab, Nero carried Annette in his arms as Kyrie led them back to the security office, opening up the doors for him. They had almost reached the door leading back to the elevator shaft when they were greeted by an unwanted old friend.

"How did _you_ get here?!" Nero exclaimed at the green-coated giant. He and Kyrie retreated until they found a spot to set the unconscious scientist down. His arms freed, Nero felt them change. _You'd better work this time,_ he ordered his left arm in his mind. Taking out neither pistol nor sword, he instead launched an uppercut into the giant's gut with his right fist. The bald man stumbled backwards as Nero leapt toward him, hitting the imposing man with a haymaker that would have sent any normal human flying.

Unfortunately, his opponent was far from normal, and as soon as Nero landed, one of the enemy's giant fists grabbed him by the neck, lifting him into the air. "Nero!" Kyrie yelled.

The Holy Knight brought one of his knees straight up, smashing into the giant's chin with a sharp crack. The other leg kicked into the green-coated brute's chest, pushing with enough force to break his grip and get Nero back down to the ground. He coughed, massaging his throat. _You're a mean bastard, aren't you?,_ he thought angrily. _Well…_ He drew his revolver, blasting at the bald stranger. His opponent walked forwards, ignoring the rapid gunfire. Nero ducked under a powerful left hook, dodged to the side to avoid a right hook, and then jumped backwards as the enemy slammed both fists into the ground. He put three more shots into the giant's head before it straightened up again. "Dammit…just get out of our way!" _The lightning gun's only good for one more shot before it's in danger of being unfixable; I can't waste it on him!_

The face of the man in the trench coat formed into a scowl, and he began advancing on Nero. The young man couldn't move any further backwards, or he'd put Kyrie and Annette in the crossfire. He needed to make the colossus retreat somehow…but how?

Well…there was _one_ way…

He holstered Blue Rose, reaching both arms out past the giant, and this time, both had spectral arms extend outward. They each gripped a pipe on the far wall, and with a yell, Nero launched himself forward.

The bald man barely had time to blink before both Nero's feet impacted his head, the sheer velocity of the young man overcoming the green-coated behemoth's size and knocking it off its feet. The Holy Knight drew his revolver once more, firing point-blank at his opponent as his momentum carried him further and further forward. His shots traveled up the brute's body, ending with two in the face before he flew past the giant altogether, landing several feet away. The giant humanoid hit the floor with a loud crash, and Nero trained his gun on it just in case it got up again. For several seconds he waited, watching for any sign of movement. When none came, he stuffed the gun away, hurrying back to the others. "That probably won't keep him down for long, but we can deal with that later." He picked up the unconscious scientist, and they resumed their trek to the office.

* * *

Leon looked at her with both relief and surprise. "Ada, you made it! Sorry we took so long; we've been trying to find a way to cool off the elevator." He frowned. "Speaking of, how did you…?"

"The same as you, naturally. Sorry, but I couldn't wait forever; lives do hang in the balance, after all."

"Well, not that I'm ungrateful for the help, but I wish you would've waited for us."

"The most dangerous thing I've come across is another one of those zombie gorillas or whatever they are. And thanks to you, I already knew where the weak spot was, so it wasn't too difficult."

"Why didn't you wait at the security office?" Claire asked, staring at the woman. "It's an enclosed space; you could have defended yourself easily."

"What, and wake up the two resting inside? I'm more useful with the rest of you, since I have weapons and everything."

She shook her head. "Leon, try and call the others. Now that we've got one of the ingredients, it would help if we knew which ones they've got."

He nodded, pulling the radio from his belt. "This is Leon. Come in."

* * *

Nero drew the crackling radio from Annette's belt. "This is Nero; go ahead."

" _We've managed to gather T-Blood for Lady's cure. How are you coming along?_ "

"We've got a cure ready for Sherry and the other two ingredients for Daylight."

" _Really? That's the best news I've heard so far. So what's the catch?_ "

"We also managed to kill that mutant with the gas mask. Dropped him into a pool of molten metal."

There was a pause from the other end. " _That doesn't…SOUND like a downside. Did he owe you money or something?_ "

"And we had a little run-in with Birkin; Annette's been injured pretty badly."

" _Shit, I knew there had to be something. Is she stable_?"

"So far. We're bringing her to the security room now."

" _Roger that. We've managed to link up with Ada; we're headed to you to regroup._ "

Annette stirred in Nero's arms, clutching in the direction of the radio. "Mmm…spy…watch out for…spy…"

Nero shifted his grip so that she wouldn't fall to the floor with her sudden movement. "Hey, take it easy! Who's a spy?"

"Ada…Ada Wong is…spy…" She made one last attempt to grab the radio before she slipped back into unconsciousness.

Nero gave her a worried look before raising the radio back towards him. "You catch that?"

" _No, I didn't. Why, was it important?_ "

"Might be. Just get over here quick, okay? Every second counts."

They weren't waiting long; they'd only just laid Annette down on the cot when the door opened and the others filed in. With all of them together, the modestly sized security office was suddenly quite cramped. "You made it," Kyrie said, smiling. "We're happy to see you again."

Claire nodded towards her before turning to Nero. "You said you got an antidote for Sherry?"

He nodded, handing her the so-called "DEVIL" vaccine. "But that's only part of our problem solved. We still need to mix up the cure for Lady and then get the hell outta here."

"Does anyone have a syringe?" she asked the group at large. "If I give it to her now…"

"That'll get some weight off our backs," Leon responded, handing her his only empty syringe while setting the blood-filled one aside. "Nero, didn't you have something you needed to tell us?"

"Yeah. Annette said to tell you something about Umbrella in private; mind if we step outside?"

Shrugging, Leon followed him out of the office. Once the door had closed, he said "Okay, now what is it? Did she only trust me because I'm a police officer or something?"

"…Well, okay, that was partly a lie to get you out here. What she actually said was that she thinks…Ada's a spy for someone. Maybe Umbrella, maybe someone else."

"What? That's impossible!" He stared defiantly at Nero's quirked eyebrow. "Why would she bother helping us if she were a spy for Umbrella? And if she was, why hasn't she tried to kill us or trap us?"

"The hell should I know?" Nero said irritably. "It's what she said; just passin' it on."

There was the loud, unmistakable sound of something powering down. _"Error #582: Power setup invalid,"_ a familiar female computer voice called out from the wall-mounted speakers. _"Please reset power application at distribution terminal above main fuse."_

"Seriously?" Leon muttered. "What, did the universe think things were getting too easy?" He looked at Nero. "We need to get the power back on if we ever want that Daylight made. You and Kyrie remember where the room was, so you two head there with all the stuff we need. The instant the power comes back on, get the machine working on mixing everything. The rest of us can go figure out how to pull the computer's head from its ass long enough to get the power running, and after that we'll work on doing what we can to get out of this damn town. Got all that?"

Nero gave him an approving look. "You'd have made a hell of an officer, you know that?"

Leon rolled his eyes, but smiled all the same. "Save the back-patting for when we're home free. Let's inform the others."

After a quick briefing, the rest of the assembled group was brought up to speed. They didn't share the part about Ada possibly being a spy, given that they couldn't prove it, but Claire seemed to know they weren't telling the full story.

Despite receiving the G-Virus cure, Sherry still hadn't woken up; Nero could only hope that was a sign of normal exhaustion, and that the cure hadn't failed somehow. Pushing the thought aside, the Holy Knight took the syringes full of T-Blood and absorbed them into the Devil Bringer; after taking one of the radios with them, he and Kyrie retraced their steps in the direction of the lab.

As they did, they walked through the glass corridor overlooking the Hell Gate. He looked at Kyrie, and she seemed to understand instantly. "Okay, but quickly." He sliced through the glass with Red Queen, jumping down into the cave with her in his arms. After setting her down, they stepped over the broken glass, walking up to the monolithic structure.

Both of them looked up at the towering Hell Gate, apprehension clenching inside them. It felt like so long ago that they'd seen one intact; the Gates in Fortuna having been destroyed during that "incident" with the former Order.

"How do you think it got here?" Kyrie asked the young man quietly.

"I dunno," he responded, frowning. "But we can't just leave it here. This place is full of monsters already." He searched the small pedestal near the gate that he'd used to seal one of them in the past. Upon seeing what was on it, however, his scowl deepened. "Now where did this come from…?"

Floating atop the pedestal was an object that looked like blue flames, if they were contained within a flat, jagged object that was invisible. Transfixed, he felt himself reaching out with his left hand toward the object; it shuddered slightly before drifting slowly to him. Once it touched his outstretched fingers, there was a bright flash of light, and then the flames were gone. Once more, words echoed in his head.

… _St. Elmo…joined…third of the twelve…first of the…Unseen One…be silent. All stands at…dark one…_

 _You know, it'd be nice if something made a damn bit of sense for once,_ Nero thought to himself as he looked up at the Gate overhead. Without a Devil Arm or…whatever it was that he'd absorbed, the structure was essentially a giant slab of stone. Still…he couldn't just leave the inert rock here. What if there was another one of those blue floaty things hanging around in this place?

"Nero!" Kyrie was pointing to a figure shuffling towards them. He drew his sword, glaring at it as his arms shifted. It looked like a mix between a spider and a human. Umbrella's work, no doubt, but it must have been a failed experiment; it was an uneven mishmash of human and arachnid limbs, and every movement seemed painful to the creature. Its head was human from the jaw-line down, but its features above were that of a spider. And yet…there was something about this one… _Of course; it's been hanging around the Gate, so it makes sense._ It wasn't very strong, but there was still a faint sense of demonic energy projected from the creature, and its glowing yellow eyes were all-too-noticeable.

The spider hissed, jumping up over him. He lunged to the side, the hybrid crashing down where he'd been standing just a second before. He brought Red Queen up to block a strike from one of the creature's arms, but quickly had to contend with three more. Nero ducked, deflected and dodged as quickly as he could, but it was apparent that whatever pain the creature was in, its mobility wasn't suffering for it; if anything, the pain seemed to be making it more aggressive.

 _Time to swat you!_ Nero jumped back, placing his sword on his back as he drew his revolver, focusing power in his Devil Bringer. He fired two shots, which the monster dodged, but he didn't care about that. He could feel the power in his arm reach its limit, and he braced Blue Rose with both hands. "Bye-bye!" But then, to his shock, he felt all the energy that had built up in his right arm drain away into his left and disappear completely. "The hell?! I didn't mean it like-" He had to duck under several of the arms the creature was swiping at him. _Talk about the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing!_ So using his charged-up shots was a no-go. And if his left arm was draining away power, it was a safe bet that his Devil Trigger was out, too. Not that he was going to chance it after last time… _Should I risk trying a Devil Arm?_ He drew Red Queen again to deflect strikes once more. _What if the arm just sucks it up and I never see it again?_

His analysis was cut short as the mutated spider-creature jumped up again; this time, however, it attached itself to the side of the Hell Gate several feet overhead. Its abdomen pointed straight at him, and that was when Nero decided moving away would be an incredibly good idea.

And a good decision that was, as it turned out. What looked like a glowing red net erupted from the misshapen spinnerets, covering a wide area near where he'd been standing. He gazed at the material not far from him; it had the consistency of barbed wire, and it didn't seem to be going away in the near future. _Looks like I'll have to cut through it or burn it. Lucky me; I can do both!_ The mutant…erm…launched?...another web at him, but this time he stood his ground, revving the sword's handle until just before the red mess hit him. Pulling the trigger at the same time as he swung, the enflamed blade cut through the net with ease, the fires spreading outward from the slash and consuming the rest of the net's substance. _I might not have all my tricks ready, but I've still got enough to take you down!_

The hybrid gurgled at him, dropping back down a few feet behind the Holy Knight. It raised its many arms up menacingly, and Nero tensed.

 _CLANG!_

It was hard to tell, given that he wasn't familiar with spiders, but he thought that this one looked dazed. To be honest, with Kyrie having slammed a metal pipe into its skull, that wasn't too shocking. Still, Nero found himself caught by surprise. "Kyrie…"

She dropped the heavy pipe as shockwaves reverberated through it. "I couldn't just sit and watch! Do you think you can get it now?"

He grinned. "With pleasure!" He ran up to the monster, delivering a strong uppercut with his right arm. The force of the attack lifted the stunned creature up into the air. He grabbed one of the arachnoid limbs, twisting it with a snapping sound. Another net shot from the creature's abdomen, impacting the wall over Kyrie's head. _Can't play around when it can do that! I wonder…maybe I can use that arm for something after all…_ He grasped the creature's head with his left hand, squeezing with all his strength. _You wanna be a power leech, then suck it up!_

It was hard to say whether or not his test worked; there was only a brief second before the hybrid's head was squashed like an old, rotten pumpkin. He threw the remainder of the creature to the side, and both it and the nets began to dissolve into shapeless puddles, with only a tiny bit of rapidly crystallizing blood left over. "When this is over," Nero announced, wiping his hands off on his coattails, "I am gonna have the longest shower."

Kyrie nodded. "I think that sounds good. But that would mean using a lot of hot water; it might be expensive."

He pretended to think seriously about the issue. "Yeah, you're right. We gotta be careful on how we spend money; might have to pair up to save on cost."

She gave him a sly smile. "Perhaps."

Nero grinned, itching the bridge of his nose absently. His gaze turned to the Hell Gate, at which point his face became serious again. "I'll need to use a Devil Arm to destroy this, but I'm not sure it'll work. If it doesn't, we'll have to get Dante in here."

Kyrie bit her lip, casting a worried glance at the Gate. "What about Lady?"

He was silent for a bit, before saying very quietly "…We can't leave this here, or this town might be the first of many." He took a deep breath. _Okay…here we go._ He focused.

The dual scythes of Karkinos appeared in his hands. _Ah, so it's time!_ She sounded extremely eager.

 _You don't feel weird about smashing the Gate you came through?_

 _Why should I? I'm yours now, and it's not like I had anyone waiting for me in Hell. Shall we?_

He smiled. _We shall._ He took a run straight up the side of the Gate, slamming the scythes into a point near the top. Nero pulled down, slashing through the demonic stone and dropping downward. He spun as he fell, slashing to and fro to cut the material into smaller and smaller pieces. With a twist and a backflip, he landed in a crouched position, scythes held outward from his body. Piece by piece, the Hell Gate fell apart behind him, forming a large pile of rock and making a huge cloud of dust that filled the entire cavern. The Holy Knight gave a cough. "Well, that's done. Time to get that cure going."

* * *

The others, meanwhile, had made their way through the corridors back to the catwalk above the molten pools. Ada began typing at the console while the rest of them looked over her shoulder.

"Let's see…reroute this…and connect this…and I believe we have our fix." Ada looked up from the screen as the emergency lighting changed to regular lighting.

" _Power restored. All systems now online."_

 _CRSH!_

All of them whirled around. Mr. X had returned once again.

"This guy never gives up!" Claire groaned.

"You almost gotta admire his determination…" Leon pondered.

"…If he weren't trying to kill us," Ada added. She raised her pistol as the towering figure approached, pulling the trigger three times.

 _Click. Click. Click._

She ejected the clip as fast as she could, but she'd only just finished reloading and then he was there and he was reaching out for her with his massive gloved hand-

And then she was falling backwards, wrapped in two sets of arms as a familiar-looking red figure launched itself into the huge enemy. They heard a loud, meaty _THWACK_ as his fist connected with Mr. X's jaw. Landing on the other side of Mr. X, Dante beckoned to it. "C'mon, Cue Ball! I'm waiting." The towering figure turned, marching towards the Devil Hunter.

Ada looked up, seeing Claire and Leon standing above her, pistols drawn. "Hmph…that's another one I owe you," she said, maintaining a bemused tone even as her heart was pounding.

Leon grinned, but didn't look at her. "We're a team. We look out for each other. And besides, it never hurts to have someone owe you one."

She got to her feet, pointing her pistol as well. "Very true." None of them spoke, but the plan was clear; the instant Dante got clear, they'd pour every shot they could into his opponent.

Dante, however, was in no rush to get out of the way. He ducked under a right hook from Mr. X, then launched into an uppercut. His fist struck the human-like beast straight in the chin, but it barely let its head rock back before punching at the now-airborne Devil Hunter. He twisted in mid-air, the strike grazing his abdomen, as he kicked his opponent in the chest, flying backwards and landing neatly on the catwalk, tapping his foot as Mr. X advanced again. "That all you got, meathead?"

"Wrap it up, would you?" Claire asked in a dry tone. "I'm starting to root for this guy."

Dante shrugged, then charged at his opponent. Mr. X swung his left arm at the same time Dante swung his right. A deafening _CRACK!_ rang out, and the two struggled to push each other's fist back. Mr. X punched at Dante with his other arm, but with another _CRACK!,_ the same thing happened again. The two pressed on each other for a few moments, Dante giving a toothy grin. With a slight shove, he knocked Mr. X off balance; wasting no time, he yelled "Now! The head!"

The three opened fire on the green-coated brute, the bullets seeming to dizzy him as they impacted his skull. Dante's eyes lit up. "Are ya READY?!" As Claire and the others stopped to reload, he slashed into the giant over and over with Rebellion, a blur of red in motion. The massive blade thrust forward faster than the eye could follow. "And-" Dante yelled, retracting Rebellion. "You're-" He swept the blade from the ground upward, sending Mr. X into the air (much to Ada, Leon, and Claire's astonishment). Rebellion began to glow bright red, and as Mr. X fell back down again, Dante leapt into the air to meet him. "Outta here!" He swung his sword like a baseball player hitting a home run; the green-coated menace was knocked away, crashing into a wall with tremendous force. A moment later, he fell into the blackness below the catwalk; Dante landed, and Leon and Claire ran to join him as he looked over the side. They all saw their pursuer fall into a bright spot below.

Leon gave a sigh of relief. "I never thought I'd say this, but just this once, I'm glad Umbrella didn't give a damn about OSHA."

"Right into a pit of molten metal," Claire noted, smiling. "Good riddance."

 _Click-click._

"Excellent work. Now turn around; slowly."

Leon slowly turned around. Ada was pointing her gun at the three of them. He glanced behind him, but no, there wasn't anything about to pounce on them. "Ada? What's this about?"

Claire glared at the other woman. "So you _are_ some sort of spy. I thought something seemed off about your story. Who do you work for? Umbrella?"

She shrugged. "Does it really matter?"

Dante grinned, folding his arms. "You know, I think this is the third time I've had a hot woman turn on me. Talk about rotten luck…"

"Was it bad luck, or your personality?" Claire shot out of the corner of her mouth.

"Nothing more than bad luck, I'm afraid," Ada answered with a small smile. "Now, to something that _is_ important; you have a certain item that I need, Claire."

She stared down the traitor. "And what if I don't?"

"Please don't make this hard on yourself. Just hand the G-Virus sample over and no one has to get hurt." Grudgingly, she held the small purple vial out. "Thanks," Ada said, storing it away. "I'm sorry to have to end our partnership here, but my orders were clear: bring back a sample at any cost." Her smile faded, replaced by a look of remorse. "They also specified that any who discovered my true purpose were to be considered loose ends; ones that I would be obligated to take care of."

Dante's grin vanished, replaced by a hard look. "Don't do this, Ada. I don't want to have to hurt you."

"How chivalrous." She raised her pistol. "My apologies, but I can't have you as witnesses." Claire and Leon tensed, their hands inching closer to their guns. "Goodbye."

Three shots rang out.

* * *

CHAPTER END

Author's Note: For those who are unfamiliar with OSHA, they are the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. They also happen to be the ones who would pitch an unholy fit if they ever came across Umbrella in the real world, and that's not even taking their secret labs into account!

Anyway, here's a chapter for you before we roll into December and the winter weather. Thanks for reading, and stay warm!


	29. 28: Escape From Laboratory

Smoke rose from the barrel of a single pistol.

Leon stared in surprise. Ada was pointing her gun at such a high angle that the bullets had missed them by yards.

Claire hadn't quite reached her pistol fast enough to try shooting first. She watched Ada, confused.

Dante said nothing; arms still folded, eyes never leaving Ada. He'd been preparing to get between her gun and the other two, but once she'd started raising it, he'd waited to watch.

Ada holstered her pistol, absentmindedly pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "There. Looks like there aren't any witnesses to include in my report. Shame I had to do that, but it's over now."

"Ada…why?"

She turned to Leon, a small smile returning. "You've saved my life more than once now. Call it debt, gratitude, a whim…whatever you like." Her gaze moved from Leon to Claire, and then back again. "You two take care of each other."

"What? What are you talking about?" Claire demanded.

Her smile turned from gentle to coy. "What indeed?" She walked over to the console by the pillar. "And now…to tie up the last loose end." She tapped on the keys for a few moments, and then pressed a large red switch.

The automated female voice they'd become so familiar with rang out once more. _"The self-destruct sequence has been activated. Repeat, the self-destruct sequence has been activated. This sequence cannot be aborted. All employees, proceed to the emergency escape tram on the bottom platform."_

"What are you doing?!" Leon cried out.

"Now that I've acquired the sample, I can't allow this lab or the monsters within it to exist any longer. And since there aren't any witnesses, I don't have to worry about innocent lives being lost in the process."

"Damn you…" Claire growled.

"I already have been, little girl. Now, if there _were_ any survivors here that I didn't know about…they'd need to leave quickly, or they'd go up in flames with the rest of this place."

Dante chuckled. "I shoulda known. I can't set foot in a secret base without it blowing up." Claire gave him a suspicious look.

"Should there be any survivors that… _escaped_ …my notice, they'd certainly need one of these to make it out of here." Their former/current/maybe ally set a small object on the console, and then turned around. "Too bad, hmm?" She began to walk towards the exit.

"Ada."

She stopped for a moment, but didn't turn to look at him.

"Thank you," Leon said.

"Don't mention it." She left, never looking back.

Dante smirked as Leon picked up the object Ada had left. _Someone's got it bad for you, kid. Not sure whether to pat you on the back or get you Kevlar._

"It's some kind of key," Leon announced.

"Well, let's not just stand here! We need to get to Sherry and Lady!" Claire exclaimed.

Dante's smirk changed to a scowl. "Right. Let's roll."

* * *

The other group, meanwhile, had been waiting just over a minute in the lab when the lights came on. They wasted no time setting the machine to work, inserting all the ingredients that would (hopefully) make Lady the cure she needed.

The waiting that followed was nearly unbearable. To Kyrie, those ten minutes felt like hours with how slowly they went by. Every time the machine would clunk a certain way, she felt her heart thump twice as strongly in her chest, and when it would go back to its procedure, the disappointment would make her feel worse off than when they'd started. It was tough to sit still and just wait for the machine to finish its task, when they knew Lady needed help as soon as possible.

In its own way, it was almost as agonizing as what would happen in about four months. At least then she had the advantage of…well…perhaps that is a story for another time. Best to take these things in sequence.

Nero was, if possible, even worse off. He was a man of action, of movement, of direct confrontation. He wasn't as impatient as Dante, but that was an awfully low bar to clear, and even then he only just made it over. As it stood, he was pacing around the lab over and over, ignorant of what was left of the zombies from earlier. _C'mon…c'mon…hurry up!_

"How are we doing?"

He spun around to find himself face-to-face with Mar. "Dammit, don't you ever knock?!"

The man ignored him. "Still generating the cure? Hmm…this might come down to the wire. I just stopped in to check on Lady; it's not looking good."

Nero stared at the man. "How long?"

"A little over an hour, or at least that's the best I can tell. Did you get the cure to Sherry?"

"Yeah; the others just fixed the power situation, so they should be getting back to the office soon."

Mar tapped his foot, frowning. "The instant this cure finishes, double-time it back to Lady. There's gonna be hell to pay if she doesn't make it."

"Damn right there is," the blue-coated swordsman growled, turning back to the machine.

" _The self-destruct sequence has been activated. Repeat, the self-destruct sequence has been activated. This sequence cannot be aborted. All employees, proceed to the emergency escape tram on the bottom platform."_

Nero spun around, looking up at the ceiling in shock. "What? Not now!" He leveled his gaze at Mar, but the man had disappeared once again. "Dammit…"

"Nero, what do we do?" Kyrie asked, looking between him and the machine.

"Not much choice; we've gotta wait until this finishes and get it to Lady."

His radio crackled. " _Leon calling Nero and Kyrie._ "

Nero held the switch. "Nero here. Go ahead."

" _We just took out our bald friend in the green coat, and we're headed back to the security office. We've got a way to reach the escape train, so we'll pick up the others and meet you there._ "

"You sure it's a good idea to move Lady and Annette?"

" _No, but we don't know how long this place has until it blows. The quicker we get everyone to the evac zone, the less risk of us all taking a direct flight to the choir upstairs._ "

"Got it. I take it the big guy tripped the self-destruct?"

" _It's…well…complicated. We can fill you in later._ "

"Alright. It might be a while before we catch up, but once this cure's finished, we'll be on our way. Nero out." He stuffed the radio back onto his belt and resumed his pacing, stopping after only a moment when he noticed something that hadn't been there before. He picked up the odd see-through disk on the table; a small note was stuck on the front that read "For Giant Metal Gate" in red ink. _Definitely ink; it doesn't smell like blood._ Shrugging, he tucked it into his coat.

It took another five minutes before the cure was finally ready. With a beep, the machine finished its task, and two vials filled with the finished serum rose from the top of the machine. To his slight concern, the liquid they were filled with was white, and it was glowing. "This better be right…" After a moment of hesitation, he absorbed both into the Devil Bringer. "Sounds like we've got a train to catch."

Much to their distress (and Nero's resigned acceptance), they had only made it through one corridor when suddenly an angry creature burst from one of the ventilation shafts overhead. Nero's eyes narrowed as he watched the undead primate roar at him, revving Red Queen in challenge.

* * *

" _All employees…"_

The other group, meanwhile, had returned to the security office. Sherry was finally awake, and her eyes lit up when she saw them come in. "Claire! You're okay!" She hugged the older woman around the midsection.

"Good to see you're feeling better," Claire responded, patting her head. "Is your mom awake yet?"

"No…" She bit her lip. "Claire, my mom isn't…she's not going to…well…" The girl gulped. "…die. R-Right?"

"It looks like her wound has been dressed well; she should be okay, even if she'll need to rest up. But we don't have much time; we'll have to move, okay?"

"Is it because of that announcement?"

"Yeah," Leon said, almost to himself. Looking at a small locker near the guard's desk, he fished the "W. Box" key from his pocket, thinking.

"I'll carry Lady," Dante informed the rest of them. "Claire, Leon, you'll have to take Annette."

"Just a sec," Leon called over to him, pulling a small box from the locker.

"What's that, a new gun? It can wait; hand it here."

Leon obliged, though he did feel the need to clarify. "It's custom parts for my Desert Eagle. But you're right, it can wait until we've got the train ready." He was just about to return to the cot when he noticed two very familiar-looking objects on the desk. "Claire, don't forget this."

She took the object from him, nodding. "After that fight with the squid demon, I'm starting to see the benefits of a blade. No wonder Dante likes them so much." She started reattaching the sheath to her shirt.

Leon nodded, wondering if he should start asking how the knife that he'd buried into a zombie's chest hours ago had suddenly turned up here, perfectly clean and with a small note reading "You'll need this; you're welcome, by the way." He decided to add it to the many questions he planned on asking Dante once they were on the train and Lady was cured.

"That everything? Good, now let's get going," said Dante impatiently. He picked up Lady in his arms, and if the situation hadn't been so dire, the action might have looked somewhat sweet. Claire and Leon picked up Annette between them, and Sherry opened the door to the security office, leading the group in a march towards the elevator. Once inside, Annette was set down so that Leon could place the Master Key in the slot near the terminal inside, selecting the alternate course displayed onscreen. The elevator descended rapidly, then stopped, then rattled slightly as the whole car moved horizontally, then descended once more until finally stopping.

The instant the elevator doors opened, Leon's eyebrows rose. The train in front of him had several cars linked together, clearly large enough for scores of people to evacuate the facility in a single group. His eyes scanned the orange transport; this thing was going to need a LOT of power by the looks of it. Could they get it online in time?

Dante strode forwards to the train door, and it slid sideways to allow him inside. The rest of them filed in, easily able to fit inside the same car. Two large bench seats had been lowered inside the train, and their unconscious companions were laid on top of them.

"I'll check the engine car," Claire informed them. "Sherry, would you come with me for a minute?"

The younger girl looked at her mother for a few moments, watching her stomach closely. After she had apparently confirmed that Annette was still breathing, she nodded, following Claire to the front car.

"The other two should be here soon," Leon said, trying to summon up hope that was rapidly diminishing.

"I know. You and Claire will have to get the train runnin' without me; I'm staying with Lady."

He considered protesting that action, but thought better of it and just nodded. "It shouldn't take us long."

"Good. I won't leave without you."

The girls returned, and Leon and Claire filled each other in; apparently, the train DID need to be powered up, and there was a special procedure for it that meant the two of them would have to do a few things beyond just flipping a switch. Sherry wasn't happy about it, but eventually she relented and allowed them to do what they needed to. Before they left the train, Leon handed the Desert Eagle to Dante. "Here."

"Thanks, but I won't need it."

"Well, while you're waiting, mind putting those custom parts on it? I might not be the living, breathing tank you are, but a little extra firepower wouldn't hurt."

Dante looked into his eyes for a second, before nodding and accepting the handgun from him. "Any special requests?"

"I'll leave it up to a trained professional. I'm counting on you."

The tiniest of smirks twitched at Dante's mouth for a split-second. "See you soon…Leon."

* * *

"… _proceed to the evacuation tram…"_

Nero pulled Red Queen from the now fully-dead ape's chest, flicking the blood off it before replacing the blade on his back. The two resumed their journey, coming to a very large steel door next to a terminal.

The Holy Knight inserted the strange disk into the terminal, tapping a few keys at random and hoping that it was close enough to whatever the code needed to be. To his fortune, the large door slid up into the ceiling. "Is it wrong that I'm mad that was so easy?"

"Probably not, but it might be wrong if you wanted it more difficult," responded Kyrie.

"True enough." They sped rapidly down the newly revealed corridor, going through the doors at the end (more twisty-lock ones too; hooray).

There was a loud rumble, and both Nero's group and Leon's group heard the automated voice temporarily stop its repeated message to broadcast a new one.

" _Five minutes until detonation."_

Kyrie and Nero were in a room with several large chemical tanks throughout it. At the far end were two heavy blast doors marked with yellow text: _Platform Elevator – Emergency Use Only!_ They hurried over to the doors, and Kyrie tapped the elevator's call button. There was a beep overhead, and they saw that the platform was beginning a very slow ascent. Nothing to do but wait, it seemed.

 _THUNK. THUNK._

"Okay, who's the idiot this time?!" Nero snapped, looking at the metal panel overhead that had been dented by powerful strikes. Kyrie began to rapidly retreat as the metallic pounding noise continued, and then the form of Birkin that they'd last seen tore through the panel to land right in front of Nero. It hissed with both its mouth and the toothy-looking ribs. "I think I've had just about enough of you." Karkinos appeared in his hands, and he sliced into the mutant's arms three times before it could respond. That, as could be expected, made it angry.

Unfortunately, it also made the creature begin to change once more. The teeth on its chest protruded outward, and gathered into a formation of a second mouth on its chest. It dropped to its knees, and its whole body's balance began to shift; going from upright to almost canine in bearing, with all six limbs touching the ground. Nero bet his solid gold shield that it meant that Birkin had become faster as well.

When he had to lunge to the left to avoid being impaled by the chest-teeth, he knew he had been right.

* * *

"… _on the bottom platform."_

Leon got them through the gate next to the train with that Master Key, and they hurried up the stairs to get across the platform.

"It said they should be somewhere around here…there!" Claire pressed a button near the object, revealing two very large plugs; one red and one blue. "These will help us get the energy to the train." She grabbed the red one and pulled; it took a few seconds before the plug was finally free of its socket. "Sheesh…you'd think they'd make these…" She grabbed the blue one. "Easier…to remove…!" With a final tug, it came loose. "…with people's lives on the line."

"That's Umbrella for you; if it isn't needlessly complex, it isn't getting built. Let's go!" They each carried a plug under the stairway and through the door tucked beneath it. They were in the room with the molten metal pools, and it was _ridiculously_ hot. "Let's make it quick; I'm not big on saunas."

A large machine was set up on the other side of the room, waiting for their plugs to be inserted. A screen in front of it read: _Tram Power Redistribution. WARNING: Self-Destruct Active!_ The two of them inserted their plugs and Claire tapped the button next to the display.

There was a humming noise, and then text was scrolling rapidly across the screen. _Emergency mode has been activated. In order to power evacuation tram, energy must be rerouted. The power will be cut temporarily to divert the necessary energy; once the train's power cells have been fully charged, it will be activated and the power will be restored._ And then the screen flicked off.

As did all the lights around them; the only light source now was the molten metal bubbling near them in their recklessly close pits.

"Claire!" Leon called out.

"I'm right here," she responded. She grasped his hand briefly to demonstrate.

"The doors won't open until the power comes back on. Guess we're stuck h-"

 _THUD_

They'd heard that sound enough to have it memorized. The form in front of them was different, however; first and foremost, it was on fire and lacked its green trench coat. In the light of the flames, they saw that their old foe Mr. X had grown more bulky, and a large, heart-like organ seemed to be beating on its right side. Its legs and waist were pale white, and everything above had gone the blue hue of veins. It rose up, and they could see large claws much like Birkin's sprouting from its hands.

"Great. He's still alive, and no Dante here for backup," Claire remarked.

"We don't need him; we've got more than enough space to dance around his slow ass. C'mon, Claire; let's take this monster down for good."

The beast roared; its arms held wide menacingly. It glowered at the two of them, and for the briefest of moments, none of them moved an inch. But then, Monster X moved.

Holy _shit_ did it move!

They barely ducked under its lunging slash. Leon jumped away, sliding on his back across the floor as he fired his pistol. Claire rolled out of its reach, bringing her grenade launcher up to fire her last incendiary round at the monster. It managed to score a direct hit, but the additional flames didn't really seem to be helping.

"Since when did it get so fast?!" Leon yelled, getting to his feet.

"Probably the same time it stopped getting hurt by fire!" she yelled back, dodging under another slash. _It's too fast! I can't keep up with it for long…_ She ran to Leon's side, chambering one of her last two standard grenades as he fired. "How about this?" she challenged, firing it at the monster's feet. The explosion flared, but as it ended, the giant was walking casually towards them. Claire was moving to load the last of her grenades, and Leon to load his penultimate 9mm clip, but they saw the beast hunch over and knew it was about to charge them, and they wouldn't be able to dodge in time. It snarled, and then…

Two shots rang out. The monster looked around, confused.

"Here; use this!" a familiar female voice rang out. A shadowy figure was atop the catwalk; they dropped a large object next to the power generator.

"Ada?!" Leon blurted out in surprise. Two more shots rang out, and then they heard footsteps fading into the distance.

"She did owe us one more…" Claire commented, grinning despite herself. _Maybe she's not so bad after all…for a barely-ethical spy._ "Leon, I'll distract it. You grab whatever she dropped!"

"What? But-!"

"No time! Unless you'd like to be sliced up by our old friend?"

He growled in frustration. "Be careful." He ran behind Monster X as it turned back; upon seeing Claire, it began to walk towards her.

She slung the grenade launcher onto her back, drawing her pistol. _Six shots; make 'em count, Claire!_ She snapped off three shots at the creature's exposed heart. It hunched over; she moved as fast as she could to dodge, but two of its claws tore through her shirt as they grazed the top of her stomach. She rolled away, and held her left hand to the wound reflexively; she could feel a small amount of blood. She put two of her remaining three bullets into her enemy's back, backing away slowly. _Leon, hurry; the next one won't be as lucky._

"I've got it! I'll need a little help; my shoulder-!"

She ran over to him, helping him lift the large weapon. They supported it between their shoulders, aiming straight at their foe. It turned around to look at them.

Leon gave it a cold glare. "Game over." He pulled the trigger.

The rocket launcher roared, a missile racing at Monster X. Before the creature could move or make a noise, the missile struck. The beast exploded, pieces of it flying everywhere. Most flew into the pits of slag and sizzled as they burnt to a crisp; the rest were strewn about the floor. Their nemesis was well and truly dead.

Claire smirked, helping Leon lower the rocket launcher. "You lose, big guy." The lights flickered on once more, and they hurried back towards the train.

* * *

" _All employees…"_

"I liked you better when you were slow!" Nero yelled as he fired at the G-monster skittering around on one of the walls. Any other time, he would have welcomed a diversion to keep him occupied while the elevator was ascending. But they only had four minutes left until the whole place wiped itself out, which didn't leave a whole lot of room for error. _If it would just…stand…still!_ "Kyrie! Any ideas on slowing this thing down?!"

She scanned the room while keeping an eye on the general location of the mutated Birkin. There were so many tanks of liquid around…perhaps one of them held the answer? A lot of them had very long labels that were beyond her, but there were a few that caught her eye; ones with giant warning stickers that had the outline of snowflakes. _Liquid nitrogen – perfect!_ "I've found a few containers with liquid nitrogen; if you could lure it over, I might be able to help you freeze it!" She ripped a few more strips of cloth from her dress and wrapped them around her hands, before grabbing a monkey wrench lying next to one of the tanks.

"If you say so; one pissed off mutant, coming right up!" He stopped firing, planting Red Queen into the floor and revving it. "You wanna rumble, tough guy? Bring it!" It didn't take long for the creature to get the hint; it leapt down at him, and he ran around the other side of the row of tanks, where Kyrie was. "It's your show; just tell me what to do."

"When I tell you to, jump straight up. Ready?" Birkin came barreling around the corner, breathing flames from its chest mouth, and they both tensed. "NOW!" Nero did as commanded, and Kyrie twisted the valve protruding from the tank with the wrench before ducking between the canisters. The mutated creature's fire breath ceased as it tried to skid to a halt, but it was doused with a jet of sub-zero liquid. It bellowed in pain, which turned out to be a very bad choice, as it meant that the liquid poured into the monster's mouth as well.

Nero pulled himself over the row of tanks with the Devil Bringer, landing next to where Kyrie had come out. The jet of liquid was tapering off, and the mutated form of Birkin was writhing in pain while making gasping sounds, its movements slowing more and more as its skin began to freeze before their eyes. "Damn," he muttered, impressed.

Her eyes were wide. "I didn't think that would kill it. I was just trying to freeze it in place…"

"Hey, I'm not complainin'. You're gettin' pretty good at this, you know that?" The elevator beeped; three minutes left. "But we can celebrate later; let's get going!"

"But what about him?" she asked, glancing at the now-motionless monster.

"He's not going anywhere; let the base blow up on top of him, it should do the trick."

She nodded, following him into the elevator. _Lady…we're on our way. Hang in there!_

* * *

Dante was fiddling with the gun parts, determinedly avoiding looking at Lady's unconscious body. He had to stay busy; it was all up to Nero and Kyrie to get here with the cure, and then they'd be home free.

"Sh…Sherry?" a voice croaked.

He looked up. Annette was awake, apparently. "Take it easy, there. She's just fine."

Sherry sat down next to her mom. "I'm okay, Mom. We're okay."

"Stomach…is your stomach…?"

She shook her head. "It doesn't hurt anymore."

The blonde woman let out a sigh of relief. "Good…then we made it in time."

She moved as if to get up, but Sherry gently pushed her back down. "You're hurt; you shouldn't be moving."

"Sherry. There's something you should know. Your father is…he's…" She swallowed, looking into Sherry's eyes. "I'm sorry, but he's gone."

The girl shook her head. "No he's not. He's not! We'll find him and-"

"I saw him die." She looked her daughter in the eyes, her expression a kind of sad determination. "He died trying to save us, sweetie. And it's thanks to him…" Her voice cracked, but she pressed on. "It's thanks to him that we were able to find the medicine that made you better."

Dante's eyes were set on the last few parts that had yet to be swapped out. This wasn't a conversation he needed to hear, and that in turn made him feel like he was intruding on something extremely private.

"Mom…"

"He loved you with all his heart, Sherry. Never forget that, okay? We both love you. So much…so…much…" Her eyes drooped, and her head came to rest on the seat.

"Mom? MOM!"

Dante's head snapped over to look at the woman. "She's just sleeping. She's been through a lot. You both have, ya know; you should probably get some sleep too."

The younger Birkin shook her head. "Not until we all get away. And not until Lady gets better."

He almost smiled despite himself. "Your call." Just as he finished the last few adjustments on the pistol, there were several loud groans and shrieks from outside the train. He tucked the completed pistol into his coat before pulling out his own trusty ones. "Lock the door and watch them. Anything happens, you hide in the engine car."

"But what about you?"

He gave Lady a glance out of the corner of his eye. "I won't be long." He stepped out of the train, glancing at the group of creatures gathered around as the door hissed closed behind him. Zombies, experimental creatures, and even a few demons were all staring at the Devil Hunter. "You know, I should thank you guys for showing up at the right time…" A glint of red flickered behind his eyes. **"I've been waiting to blow off some steam."**

* * *

As soon as the elevator platform came to a halt at the bottom, Kyrie and Nero ran towards the train they saw in front of them. They heard footsteps from their right and turned to face whatever was responsible, ready for a fight…but their stance immediately relaxed when they saw Leon and Claire. "Did you get it?" Claire asked.

"You bet," Nero said, the vial of liquid appearing in his right hand in a flash. "We've got a spare, too, but one should be enough for her."

Leon handed him a syringe, but then his eyes focused on the far end of the platform. "What the…?"

The others followed his line of sight, and saw Dante press a button, whereupon the gates in front of the train opened. He strode across an enormous, oblong pool of blood to return to the door. "You better have that cure," the Devil Hunter said flatly. Nero held up the syringe and vial. "Well, what are you waitin' for? Get in the damn train!"

Without another word, they all took position around the door, and Dante knocked. "Sherry, it's me. Open up." The door hissed open, and they all hurried in. Without saying anything, he handed Leon's customized Desert Eagle back to him.

The area around them began to rumble, and dust fell from the ceiling. "We've only got about a minute left!" Nero called out.

"We'll get the train going!" Leon declared. He and Claire hurried to the engine car.

Dante took the syringe and vial from the Holy Knight, assembling them in their proper configuration. The lights came on, and the train gave a lurch forward. He felt for Lady's pulse; it was present, but weak. He took a deep breath, sticking the needle in and slowly pulling the trigger handle.

Leon and Claire returned from the engine car, and the train began to pick up speed. There were powerful quakes happening regularly now, and there was a loud explosion outside the train. But he ignored all that, holding his breath and waiting for a sign from Lady. _Please…this cure has to work…please…_

"If that's the Daylight, she should have been awake by now," came Mar's voice behind him, and it sounded nervous. "She needs to give us a sign here."

The train was going very fast now, the tremors and explosions falling far behind. Her pulse was unchanged, and Dante set the syringe down.

"C'mon, Lady, wake up. Please...please wake up..." Dante begged softly.

She twitched, then rolled her head a bit. "Mmmm..." Her eyes began to open slowly until she was staring blankly at Dante. "Urrrr..." she groaned in a guttural voice, baring her teeth.

Dante gaped in horror. "No..." His arms went numb, not even making a token effort to draw his pistols. _All this time I gave other people a hard time for not putting down people that turn, and now I...I just…_

She stopped, her mouth turning into a weak smile. "Kidding," she said in a raspy but much lighter voice.

"...Now I know you're not Lady. She doesn't make jokes. Especially not such stupid ones," he said, clenching his teeth and trying not to whoop with relief.

She sighed, eyes half-closing. "Let's just call it delirium...And move on."

He sighed with relief, hugging her. "Don't scare me like that, you idiot."

"Who's calling whom…the idiot…" she mumbled, but smiled all the same.

Mar slumped against the wall. "Phew...she's saved. Talk about a close call..."

Dante turned, glaring at him as he set Lady back down. "Look, this doesn't make us even. Not by a long shot. You got us into this mess, after all; she wouldn't have gotten bit in the first place if it wasn't for what you've done." Mar didn't even comment back, looking just as drained as Lady did. "...But...you helped save her. So just this once..." His face contorted as he forced the words out. "...Th…thank-"

Mar shook his head. "Don't hurt yourself; I'm not that good with gratitude anyway."

Claire sighed. "So it's finally over, then?"

Mar nodded again. "Yeah. I think it is."

"Completely over?"

"Uh-huh."

"We're in the clear? We're safe? We won? Go team?"

"Yeah, yeah, all that," he said, frowning. "What are you getting at?"

She smiled. "Good. Then I can finally do this."

And with that, Leon barely had time to react before Claire was upon him, kissing him with a vigor he had never witnessed before. He put up all of a half-second of resistance before wrapping his arms around her and kissing her back.

Nero chuckled. "Well, that was a bit unexpected, but what the hell. Go Leon!" he said, giving the two a thumbs up.

"I'm missing it," Lady groaned. "Dante, move!"

"Haven't you ever heard about priorities…?" he muttered, but took a step to the side. He stopped to think for a moment, and then stuck out his left arm.

"Hey!" Sherry said, pushing his hand away from her eyes.

Kyrie looked at the two embracing, wavering between feeling uncomfortable and amused. "Should we...leave the room?"

Mar snorted. "They're blocking the way to the other cars. What, you think we can all fit in the engine cabin?"

Dante grinned. "Well, I-"

 _CRASH!_

The whole train shook, making everyone who had been standing stumble. Claire and Leon broke apart, with the former looking both disappointed and annoyed.

"Don't tell me…" the Devil Hunter sighed.

" _Biohazardous outbreak detected. Timer active. Each train car will detonate sequentially per Cauterization Protocol._ "

"Figures. Wouldn't be the home stretch without big explosions."

Nero sighed. "We seem to make a habit of cutting it close. The execution, the mansion, and now this…" He drew Blue Rose, spinning it in frustration. "Can't be helped, I guess."

Dante nodded, getting to his feet. "Always a last-minute idiot to kill, huh? Well, we-" He stopped abruptly at the hand Nero was holding up. "What's with the hand, kid?"

He grinned wryly. "You wait here. If whatever it is gets past me, I want you back here to protect everyone. Get them to safety if need be."

The Devil Hunter looked at the Holy Knight, an odd sort of understanding between the two. "Kid…"

"Hey, c'mon; you can't always be the one to save the day." He looked over. "Leon, you mind backing me up?"

The young officer nodded, drawing his two pistols at the same time. "Lead the way." He paused, and then transferred one of his pistols to his other hand so that he could pull out the Master Key. "Just in case," he said, handing it to Sherry.

"And you're coming with," Dante added, pointing directly at Mar.

"W-what? ME?!" Mar spluttered. "I'm not a fighter!"

"You want us to stay alive, you need to do your part. Why the hell should we help you if you don't help us back?" Silence; the grey-cloaked man reluctantly moved to the door.

"I'm going too!" Claire said indignantly. She glared as Leon opened his mouth. "And don't you dare tell me to stay behind!"

He smiled. "Actually, I was going to ask if you wanted to use my Desert Eagle." He held it out, and she took it with a determined nod.

"Okay; whatever it is, it's going to pay. Count on it."

* * *

CHAPTER END

Author's Note: The penultimate chapter, and yet one of the first that I wrote for this story...this thing's been sitting on my computer for over a year, and I finally connected the rest of the story to it. I'm a very strange writer, I guess.

Anyway, happy December everyone! Whatever you're doing for the holiday season, hope you all have a good time and get some nice Christmas presents.

...And, since I can't really do much for you except write, by the time you read this, the final chapter should be out. It's not much, but it's my gift to you, my awesome fans. :-)


	30. Finale: Dawn Never Fails to Come

The instant the four had closed the train door behind them, they heard a click as it locked shut. "No running away," Leon murmured. He led them through the doors to the next car, scanning it for a sign of what had come aboard. _Where could it be?_

"Not for nothing, but…" Mar called over the noise, "…exactly how am I supposed to fight? I don't have a weapon."

"You could nag 'em to death…" Nero muttered.

"Here; you can use this for now." Leon un-slung the shotgun from around his back and handed it to Mar. Mar took it, his eyes widening at the weight of the weapon. "Make sure to brace yourself, or your shot could go anywhere. And I'd rather not die after coming this far."

Nero moved through doors in front of them, and the group filed after him. He could sense the faint tingle of demonic energy ahead, but nothing caught his eye, even when they'd reached the far side of the train car. With trepidation, they opened those doors and went through to the last car.

The instant they stepped inside, a long, fleshy tendril crashed through a vent overhead. The faint echo of demonic power surged to a roar. "Get back to the other car!" Nero ordered. They retreated, piling through the doors. The doors started to close, but four tongue-like appendages identical to the tendril shot inside, and a giant creature forced its way into the car through the open doors.

Apart from Mar, most of those assembled could barely recognize the beast that had formerly been Birkin; the form of the monster was massive, squelching inside the train car with no room to spare. A large, toothed mouth was surrounded by several black, pupil-less eyes; Birkin's secondary head had been pushed aside like a dangling mask, one of the tendrils sprouting from its open mouth. Its clawed arms were jutting out of the amorphous body at odd angles, swiping angrily yet pointlessly. Several eyes, teeth, and hearts were dangling off of the shapeless body, and a horrible meaty stench permeated the compartment.

"Talk about ugly," Leon muttered, staring at the abomination in horror.

"Starting to wish we'd brought that rocket launcher…" Claire said, eyes wide.

"You think I'm scared of you, Birkin?!" Mar yelled. "There is no world I cannot walk in, and no plot beyond my comprehension! I can bend the forces of nature and treat time and space as mere playthings; I'm not afraid of a mutated freak like you!" He raised the shotgun and fired it with one hand.

The massive recoil of the weapon sent it up and backwards, taking Mar's arm with it. There was a loud cracking noise, then a clatter, and the sorcerer was on his knees clutching his right shoulder. "Shit…owowowowowwww…"

"So much for that," Nero said irritably. "Well, it's up to us, then!" The three opened fire with their weapons as the giant creature resumed its slow advance towards them; a hail of bullets mixed with Claire's last grenade impacted the blob, opening wounds that closed almost instantly.

The monster gave a loud roar, and shuddered all over. It gave a sound like a loud burp, and a fluid-covered creature crawled from its fanged mouth. It looked like one of the things called "Blades"…

"Ugh, seriously?" Leon yelled, turning his gun on the spat-up demon. "It vomits up helpers!" The toothy mouth of the Birkin monster contracted, and then spat out a stream of flame. " _And_ it breathes fire?"

"It what?!" hissed Mar, staggering to his feet. "What the hell did you guys DO?!"

"Don't blame me! I wasn't the one who-"

"Never mind that!" Nero shouted. "Just keep shooting the damn thing!" He swapped Blue Rose over to his right hand, funneling power into it. _Let's see you eat this one._ To his shock, just as he switched the gun back over to his left hand, the power drained right out of it, vanishing completely. "Dammit, not again!"

The hideous monstrosity continued to pull itself forward slowly but surely; it was taking up nearly half the train car now.

"This isn't any good!" Claire exclaimed. "It's healing faster than we can hurt it!" Her pistol went silent, locking open. "Changing weapons!" Stuffing her pistol into its holster, she began firing the borrowed Desert Eagle.

Leon's face worked into a snarl. "No matter what, we can't let it get past us!" There was absolutely no way they were letting this thing escape with them. They needed to put it down, right here and now. But how were they supposed to do enough damage all at once to kill it for good? If only there was a way they could hammer it with continuous…explosions…

 _Wait a sec…what was it that voice said? "Each train car will detonate in sequence", I think…but then that means…_

His snarl turned into a look of surprise. "That's it!"

"What's it?" Claire shouted over the gunfire.

"We can't kill it this way; we'll have to let the self-destruct take it out for us!"

"But…if we do that, we'll die too, won't we?"

"There's got to be a way to deactivate the system on one car; we'll uncouple this one so the engine takes us clear of the blast radius, and disarm the bomb on that car before it goes off."

She stopped firing with only three bullets left, gaping at him. "…If we pull all that off, it'll be a miracle!"

"Would you two PAY ATTENTION?!" Nero yelled as he cut through two tendrils before they could grab his partners. "If you've got a plan, don't sit here shootin' the breeze!"

"We need to withdraw," Leon ordered. "Can you break the link between this train car and the engine?"

"Only one way to find out!" He covered Claire and Leon as they retreated through the train doors. "Get moving, would you?" he snapped at the sorcerer.

"Working on it…" He picked up the shotgun with his left hand, his right dangling limply as he stumbled out the doors. Shaking his head, Nero followed, forcing the train doors closed behind them.

"C'mon…let this work…" Nero whispered. He focused hard.

The Devil Trigger activated, the familiar spectre forming around him. He gripped his right hand; the spirit gripped a large version of Yamato. He swiped his closed fist in an arc in front of him, praying that his arm would work this time.

A sharp hiss sounded. Slowly, the train car in front of them began to pull away as it lost speed.

" **It worked!"** he exclaimed, relieved. He returned to normal, the spirit disappearing. He turned to see Claire and Leon giving him accusing looks.

"Demon?" Claire supplied.

"Part. It's complicated." He frowned. "That a problem?"

"Not really," Leon said. "Could've used that earlier, though."

He shrugged. "Let's save the details for later; we don't wanna go up in flames, too." He knocked on the closed doors of the engine car. "Hey in there! Find some way to switch off the timer!"

* * *

Kyrie was already on it.

Dante had still been trying to get Lady up when the other four had left, and Sherry had been looking at her expectantly. "Sherry, follow me." The girl nodded at her, and they raced to the control room. Kyrie tried the door; it was locked.

Sherry looked at the bottom of the door; there was a flimsy-looking vent cover that looked about her size. "I'll open it from the inside!" she said to Kyrie, kicking the vent cover off and crawling through it. She turned around, pushing a button near the door.

It clicked, and then slid open, with the songstress filing in. "Look for something that says 'override' or 'stop', okay?"

Sherry nodded, searching the control panel. She found a great big red button reading 'Emergency Brake'. "Is this it?" she said, pointing to it.

Kyrie shook her head. "We need something to stop the explosion; Lady and your mother are in no condition to move." She scanned the various keys, knobs, and switches. "Hmm…" She noticed a timer near the activation lever; they had 1'56"47 remaining. _Where could it be…There!_ A console read 'Emergency Override'.

She hurriedly typed on the keys, scrolling through a simple interface. _Main Menu…Biohazard Containment…Section Control, here it is!_ She tapped on a few keys. _Please select compartment to deactivate Cauterization Protocol…okay!_ She tapped a button to select the engine car. _1'32"44…_

 _Warning: Containment protocol currently active._ "Yes, I know that!" she grumbled in frustration. She hit a few more keys. _Overseer authorization required._

A small panel opened up near Sherry. A look of understanding dawned on her face.

 _Authorization?_ Kyrie thought with worry. _How am I going to get authorization here? We're miles outside of the city, and I'm guessing the Overseer isn't human anymore. 1'02"22 left! What should I-_

A green light blinked on next to the screen. _Authorization has been confirmed. Activating Overseer Exception to Cauterization Program. Caution: unselected compartments will be detonated. Are you sure you wish to proceed?_

She gaped at the screen. "How did…?"

"I got it!"

She looked at her companion; the Master Key had been placed into a panel next to her. "Wonderful, Sherry!" she told the young girl. She turned back to the monitor. _0'30"23! Need to hurry!_ She thumbed the "Confirm" button as hard as she could.

 _Overseer Exception sub-protocol engaged. Engine car will not be subject to detonation._

She breathed out a sigh of relief, noting the timer still ticking down. She looked over the control panel once more, and finding a switch labeled 'Door Release', flipped it. "Well done, Sherry!" she said, patting the girl on the shoulder. "That was very clever; I couldn't have done it without you."

She smiled. "Thanks, Miss Kyrie. I'm glad I could help out."

Kyrie smiled back. "So am I."

The door at the rear of the engine car opened, and Claire, Leon, Mar and Nero piled in, the latter racing up to the engine car. The instant he'd gotten inside the control room, he pulled Kyrie and Sherry down, protecting them as the countdown timer hit 0'0"0.

The engine car rocked, and they could hear a roar in the distance behind them. Nero looked back, seeing a huge fireball approaching them from the still-open door. He looked up at the control panel.

"Look for 'Door Release'!" Kyrie called from underneath him.

He found the switch and flipped it. The door sealed, blocking off their view of the fireball racing towards them. A moment later, however, he saw flames licking the glass of the windscreen. He hugged the two tight, hoping against hope that he hadn't been too late.

But the roar of the flames began to ebb away. He looked up. The flame had receded from the glass, and the train was still moving. The Holy Knight let out a shaky, relieved breath. "I was a little scared I wouldn't be able to protect you," he said, releasing them gently.

Kyrie beamed up at him. "Perhaps I should be thankful that on that point, you'll always be wrong."

Sherry smiled cheerfully. "Kyrie and I were the ones that let you in. And we managed to stop this car from exploding, too."

"Did you?" he said, surprised. "Well…nice job, you two!"

The three of them returned to the others, who were all gathered back where they'd been before around the seats. It was almost as if the train had never been in danger of exploding; all of them seemed drained or safely content.

…Well…aside from one person…

Mar was holding his shoulder, a look of extreme discomfort on his face. Dante, meanwhile, was smirking at him. "One shot."

"Not now, please…" the cloaked man groaned.

"Just one shot?"

"…Yes, okay?"

He laughed. "You fired a shotgun _once_ , and it dislocated your shoulder?"

"My powers…" he hissed, wincing, "focus on the mystical. Not the physical. This never happened before…"

"Sheesh, if I'd have known this, I'd have given you a gun weeks ago."

"Yeah, yeah…kick me while I'm down, why don't you…"

"Why can't you just re-set it?" he asked pointedly. "It'll still sting like hell, but at least it won't be messed up AND painful."

"I've never done it before. And the last thing I need is to make it worse."

He shrugged. "Whatever. Not my problem." He gave Mar a piercing look. "Maybe you shouldn't be putting us in these situations, and they won't keep turning out so badly."

Mar swallowed, nodding. "Yeah. I don't think…you'll be needed in this universe any longer."

"Can you at least give us an hour or two? Lady needs some rest after the crap she's been through, and the rest of us could use a little down-time too. We've been at it for almost two days solid."

"Very well. I'll need that time to heal, anyway. Be ready all the same; when it's time to go, I won't let you dawdle." Immediately after saying this, he abruptly began snoring.

Sherry looked around at the others. "What happens now?" she asked them.

"Well, before anything else," Dante said, pulling a sheaf of mismatched paper from the depths of his coat pockets, "Leon and Claire, you take these. There's some really incriminating stuff in there; take it to the cops, or the feds, or whoever you have to. Try to poke enough holes in Umbrella that they drown in their own mess."

"And take this, too," Nero added, holding the last vial of Daylight out. "Having a cure for the t-Virus should help if they try to kickstart another one of these zombie outbreaks."

Leon nodded, taking half of the papers while Claire took the antigen and the other half of the documents. "We can do that. But…why are you talking like you're leaving it all to us?"

"Not by choice," Nero muttered, glaring at the unconscious form of Mar. "But soon enough we'll have to be on our way. It's up to you to take out Umbrella."

"I'll be sorry to see you go. Even if we do get their company shut down, there'll be a lot of holdouts; they've got branches in several countries. We could use your help wiping them out."

"I gotta admit, it does sound like fun. Still, like I say, not our call."

"Why not?" Claire asked him, a defiant look on her face. "Who cares what that man tells you to do? If you want to help us, then help us."

Kyrie gave her a sad look. "But if we stay with you, we can't go home again. We've been away so long already; I hope nothing's happened while we were away." Dante and Nero shifted uncomfortably at those words.

Her stance softened. "But…"

"Hey, it's fine," Leon said, shrugging. "Do what you've gotta do. But once you have, look us up. You're welcome anytime." He held out a hand.

Kyrie smiled, taking his hand in hers. "We'd like that."

"No!"

The voice startled Kyrie. She let go of Leon's hand, turning to see a certain young girl clutching her dress very tightly. "Sherry?"

"Don't go!" Tears welled up in her eyes. "Please…please don't go."

Claire knelt down, laying a hand over the young girl's clutched fist. "Sherry, sweetie, they said they can't stay. We can't-"

"I don't care!" She buried her face into Kyrie's dress. "I've already lost my dad…Mom might never wake up…I don't…I don't want to lose them too…"

"But there are other people that they'll need to help," she said gently. "Just like how they helped us. And besides, you'll still have Leon and me."

Sherry turned to look her in the eyes, but still didn't let go. "Won't you miss them too?"

Claire gave her a smile. "Of course. Even Dante." Sherry returned a smile of her own very briefly, then sighed and released Kyrie's robes.

The Devil Hunter in red felt a nudge in the small of his back. He turned his head to stare at Nero, who was motioning towards the gathered group. _Since when was I the go-to guy to deal with kids?_ Shrugging, he knelt down in front of the young girl. "Don't worry, we won't forget you. And I'll give you something special to remember us by."

Dante held out a small object to Sherry, whose tear-streaked face turned to awe as she took it. It was a small, spherical vial of water that was clearer than any she'd ever seen before; just holding it gave her a sense of relief. "…It's beautiful. But what is it?"

"Call it a good-luck charm. You hold onto that, and if you're ever in trouble, use it."

She held it close to her chest, her lip trembling. "You mean if I'm in trouble, you…won't be there?"

He sighed, scratching the back of his head uncomfortably. "Not 'won't'. 'Can't'. We're from way, waaaaay outta town."

"A whole other world…" Lady muttered from her spot.

"Tell you what, I'll see if we can work out a chance to visit sometime. That okay?"

"You mean it?" Sherry asked, giving him a hopeful, wide-eyed look.

"No promises, but we'll do our best. For now, though, I think we could all use some sleep."

"I'm not tired," she pouted, completely ruining the effect by yawning a second later.

He gave her a smile, patting her on the head. "C'mon, humor me. I'm definitely gonna catch some Z's." He laid down on the floor, stretching out and putting his hands behind his head.

Claire and Leon sat together on the other seat, just past Annette's feet. "It's okay, Sherry," the woman with the ponytail reassured her. "Come sit with us."

She bit her lip, looking at the Devil Hunter for a few moments before sitting next to Claire. "You'd better…*yawn*…come back…" Her eyes drooped, her head lowering. "You better…" And like a light, she was out.

Claire patted the sleeping girl's head gently, looking over in Lady and Dante's direction. "Will you be here when we wake up?"

"Probably not, no," the red-coated man admitted.

She nodded. "I thought not. Well, take care of yourself, okay?"

"Careful, Claire. Someone might think you were friends with us."

"And someone might be right." Her eyes closed, and her head fell against Leon's shoulder.

Nero looked over at Leon, waiting expectantly. He stared right back, and it was only after a full minute that he finally said anything. "Don't die."

The Holy Knight raised an eyebrow. "Really? That's it?"

"They said everything else already, what do you _want_ me to say? This probably won't be the last disaster you have to cut through. Just remember that Sherry's expecting you to visit; so, you know, don't die."

Kyrie gave him a small smile. "It's a promise." Nero sat down on the floor, leaning against the wall of the train compartment. After a moment, Kyrie sat down beside him, and within seconds they were both sound asleep.

Dante heard Lady's snores start; shaking his head, he closed his own eyes. "Keep sharp, Leon. Wouldn't want you to forget all my wise lessons and lose like a chump."

"If you say so," the officer's voice called over. "What's the charge for all the lessons?"

"How about a round of drinks for all of us whenever we drop in?"

"Sounds good to me. See you around, then."

Dante took a deep breath, relaxing. He felt himself drifting off to sleep…

…And what seemed like mere moments later, he felt himself being shaken awake. "Time to go, Devil Hunter."

He pulled himself up off the floor, stretching as he glared at Mar. "That was barely any rest at all."

"I gave you two hours, as agreed. But now it's time to send you on."

He looked around at the other three who had gotten to their feet, all of them looking as groggy as he felt. The train car was deadly still and quiet; he could see a teardrop frozen in place on Sherry's cheek. "Doesn't feel like two hours."

"One of the side-effects of sleeping while time is stopped, I'm afraid. The body may be rejuvenated, but there are no shortcuts for the mind. Anyway, shall we go to the next world? This one will be a bit more…magical than the current one," he said, his eyes sparkling mischievously.

"How about we talk about your little hint from last time?" he countered.

"Ahh, I'd almost forgotten. Yes, I _did_ give you a hint, didn't I? Do you remember what it was?"

"It was definitely a _little_ hint. One word is a piss-poor excuse for an explanation."

"Ah, but that all depends on the word, now doesn't it? Well, go on. What was that word?"

His eyes narrowed. "Return."

Mar beamed at him. "Excellent. Even a zombie outbreak hasn't dulled your memory. So there, we've talked about it. Shall we move on?"

"Hang on a second!" Nero snapped. "Return of who?"

"Of _whom_ ," Mar said, a smug look on his face.

"Piss off, you know what I mean."

"That would constitute a new hint, I'm afraid. But…since I haven't given _you_ one yet, why not? I'm sure my bosses won't mind. The _return_ of someone from the past. It's someone you all know, if not directly."

Kyrie's eyes went wide. "You couldn't possibly mean…the Devil Emperor, could you?"

"Maybe yes and maybe no," the grey-robed man said flippantly.

"I don't think that's who he means," Dante said, his gaze unwavering. "Still, you'd better not forget what it is that I do. If you or your 'bosses' are working with demons, I-"

And then he had vanished from that universe, along with his companions…

* * *

"-swear I'll kill you all!" Dante snapped as all four of them fell onto a hard, wooden surface. He winced slightly at the surprise impact, but sighed and opened his eyes, no worse for wear. And when his eyes opened, they continued to open further.

From the looks of things, they were standing on a large table, facing a group of seven people in differently-coloured robes. All were looking at them with the utmost sense of shock, each with a thin piece of wood in their hands. Well, introductions were in order, weren't they? "Hi!" he said cheerfully.

Chaos erupted. Jets of red light burst from every person's hands around them. Dante quickly assessed the situation as best he could in the milliseconds he had before the spells hit; they were all normal humans (but what was up with all the red light?) and didn't seem to be trying to kill them. But whatever they'd stumbled into must have been important. He could fight back, which would certainly injure or kill them, or he could weather whatever they threw at him, smile, and start talking.

 _The stuff I go through to help people…_ he thought as he curled his arms inward defensively. There was no time to summon anything; he'd just have to take the hits and start explaining afterwards. The streams of red light collided with him, and then everything went black.

Nero, meanwhile, had Ascalon in hand. He split his shield up, curling the halves around Lady, Kyrie, and himself the best he could, the red lights bouncing off at strange angles… "Wait, wait! Hold your fire!" he yelled.

The jets of light ceased. He peeked over the top of his shields, seeing the people in robes staring back past their wands (those _had_ to be magic wands). He took a deep breath, trying to calm down before his battle lust took over. "We're not here to fight. Can we talk?"

"Didn't one of you just say you were going to kill us all?" one responded in a Southern English accent.

 _What, Brits? Where did we get dropped this time?_ "Bad timing. He was talking about someone else." Nobody moved. "Look, we don't know where we are, and it'd be nice to sit down. Do you mind?"

A man with a flowing white beard peered at him curiously. Slowly, he lowered his wand. "Albus!" one of the others hissed.

The older man smiled. "What sort of enemy would break into our headquarters and then ask to talk? Also…" His eyes, strangely, seemed to twinkle slightly. "I'm curious."

* * *

STORY END

Author's Note: And finally, this story draws to a close. I had LOTS of fun writing it, and I hope you had fun reading it! I've definitely made a few mistakes throughout it, but as always, let me know if you find any and I'll work on them right away.

To the first Guest reviewer, you're absolutely right. But he IS exhausted...or maybe that's just a poor excuse on my part. Still, thanks!

To the second Guest reviewer, it's not weird at all. I ship them now, too. X-D

To SereneCrosstamer, thanks! And you're right; anything that ridiculously hot is usually good for disposing of supervillains, monsters, and the occasional killer robot. ;-)

I'm working on the next story, which this time is a collaboration with another author! So I'm really looking forward to it, and I'll start posting up chapters next year (as per tradition, the first five will be in one solid batch). You can probably guess which one this is a crossover with, so I hope you like it. :-)

Thank you all very, VERY much for all your awesome reviews, comments, and favourites! I'm lucky to have such wonderful fans; you're all incredible, each and every one of you. Have a great Christmas, and see you all next year!

Next Time: **Devils of the Order**


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